Abducted boy found safe/ Mother, unidentified man arrested at

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 31, 2002 | by Eric Gorski

A 9-year-old former Colorado Springs boy snatched from his father's California home was found safe at a San Diego-area RV park Friday with his mother, who was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, authorities said.

Debra Rose, a 38-year-old Colorado Springs woman with a history of marital and child-custody problems, was named Thursday as a suspect in Nicholas Farber's abduction.

A man who was not identified was arrested at the RV park and campground in Jamul, Calif., about 80 miles southwest of Nicholas' home in Palm Desert.

There was no sign of Carla Bender, 47, a Colorado Springs woman who lived most recently with Rose. Bender failed to pay the $800 rent this month on their central Colorado Springs house and was evicted this week, records show.

Investigators say Bender, a former information systems manager, is suspected in the boy's abduction. She is being sought.

The break in the case came Friday when an employee at the RV park recognized a vehicle police were publicizing: an RV with a Florida license plate and kangaroo decals on the side.

Authorities found Rose's abandoned pickup Thursday near the Nevada- California border.

Nicholas and his mother were flown aboard a sheriff's helicopter Friday to Palm Desert, where the boy was reunited with his father, and Rose was jailed, authorities said.

TV news cameras videotaped the woman kissing the boy's head in the back of a patrol car. Authorities said Rose appeared to have altered her appearance, cutting her blond hair and dyeing it black. Nicholas' hair appeared to have been cut and dyed.

The news of Nicholas' safe return to his father, Michael Farber, was met with joy in Colorado Springs. The boy attended Pikes Peak Christian School and Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel and has at least three half-siblings here.

"I love him, and I miss him, and I am so glad he's safe," said Brent Landrum, 30, a Colorado Springs carpet contractor who has been married to Rose since last year and until recently lived with the boy and his mother.

"It's been a huge relief, but it's not over for me - I'm still her husband," Landrum said.

At Pikes Peak Christian School, employees say their prayers have been answered, counselor Terrie Gardner said.

"The school is thrilled," she said. "We knew God would take care of it."

Nicholas was the subject of a custody dispute between Rose and Farber, 47, who married in 1991 and divorced in 1996.

The boy lived with Rose in Colorado Springs until she was arrested Aug. 15 and held briefly for allegedly violating a restraining order involving another ex-husband, Stanley Rose, a security company worker from the Springs.

Farber came to Colorado and got Nicholas, then was granted temporary custody by a California court, which scheduled a Sept. 5 hearing on the father's bid for permanent custody.

In court documents, Farber accused Rose of being disruptive and emotionally disturbing to her children. He said he found Nicholas "tired, dirty, unkempt and hungry" in Colorado. A Colorado Springs divorce lawyer said Debra Rose is addicted to morphine, Valium and Demerol.

Just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, two armed men abducted Nicholas from his father's home in Palm Desert, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles, setting off a massive FBI-led search spanning several western states.

Stanley Rose said he pulled his two children - Winter, 6, and Dane, 5 - from Pikes Peak Christian School on Wednesday out of fear for their safety. The children and their mother are staying with family at a secret location, and Stanley Rose was on his way there Friday.

He said by cell phone he is elated Nicholas, who he said he helped raise, was found safe.

"It's been dread and sadness and hope all at the same time," Stanley Rose said of his emotions in recent days. "Once in a while, a negative thought pops into your head like, 'What if she kills him.' You try to get that out of your head as quick as you can."

He said he met Debra Rose, then Debra Farber, at a California bar in 1997. He said she became pregnant after their first date. The couple eventually wed and moved from southern California so Debra Rose could get distance from her failed marriage with Michael Farber, Stanley Rose said.

He said Debra Rose worked 11/2 years at a Colorado Springs strip club but recently was living off Social Security disability payments from her migraines and may have been bartending.

Stanley Rose said he and other men were drawn in by his ex-wife. She's been married five times.

"She's living off men," Stanley Rose said. "She was, at one time, extraordinarily beautiful. She's extremely manipulative and very believable. She's captivating. In the Bible, there's a woman called Jezebel, and she destroyed everything around her. And that's what she does."

He said he's on good terms with her other ex-husbands. Some of them, he said, have been in constant touch in recent days and are planning a barbecue once things settle down.

"I do feel bad for her," Stanley Rose said of his ex-wife. "I know she didn't expect it to explode like this. I don't relish the thought of my children's mother in handcuffs going to federal prison or whatever happens. But she made her bed, and now she's got to lie in it."