Matter of Sanchez
The instant application is made by Frank C. Sanchez, Jr. ("petitioner") pursuant to EPTL 2-1.7 to declare Frank C. Sanchez, Sr. ("absentee") dead as a result of his absence for a continuous period of three years. petitioner is the absentee's son. A guardian ad litem was appointed to represent the absentee.
The absentee, a United States citizen, was last seen on August 30, 2001 when he left his home in Baldwin, New York to travel to visit his friend Matthew Grillo (Sanchez aff. ¶ 14).[FN1] The absentee was traveling to Lizard Racing, located on eastern Long Island, to meet with Mr. Grillo (Sanchez aff. ¶ 14). The alleged absentee left driving a white 1992 Chevrolet Lumina with license plate AKW6696 and was accompanied by his brother Edgar Sanchez (Sanchez aff. ¶¶ 15, 16). During a telephone conversation petitioner had with Mr. Grillo, he stated that neither the absentee nor Edgar Sanchez ever arrived at Lizard Racing on August 30, 2001 (Sanchez aff. ¶ 17).
On the morning of September 1, 2001, petitioner's mother, Jan Renee Sanchez ("Mrs. Sanchez"), filed a missing person's report via a 911 telephone call to the Nassau County Police (Sanchez aff. ¶ 18). In addition, the absentee's family distributed a missing person's flyer (which included pictures of the absentee and Edgar Sanchez) advising anyone who may have seen the absentee, Edgar Sanchez, or the 1992 Chevrolet Lumina to call the detectives on the case (Sanchez aff. ¶ 20). In a report prepared by the guardian ad litem, she indicates that the petitioner advised her during a conversation that at the time of the absentee's disappearance he had been married to Mrs. Sanchez for twenty-five to thirty years and that there was no reason why his father would have walked away from the family. Furthermore, the petitioner indicated during his conversation with the guardian ad litem that their family was never threatened nor were any funds missing from the absentee's bank accounts. [*2]
A Victim's Crime Report issued by the Nassau County Police Department on January 24, 2006, pursuant to a request by the absentee's family, indicates that the absentee is "still missing." (Sanchez aff. ¶ 19). To date, the absentee has been absent for a continuous period of more than three years, he has not been heard from nor has his absence been satisfactorily explained (Sanchez aff. ¶ 2).
