Missing boys' dads mixed up in crime

WESTCHESTER, Calif. (KABC) -- The search is on for two brothers accused of kidnapping their sons. Authorities say the men used summer vacations to deceive their ex-wives and never returned the three boys home. There's concern the men may be trying to leave the country.

LAPD does have an active search under way for the men and the children. They are looking for the men for two reasons. There is evidence of a scam operation police uncovered while searching the abandoned house. The men apparently had access to a lot of money.

Click here for a slideshow of the missing children and their two fathers

Nine-year-old Greg Silah left for a parental visitation with his father and hasn't been seen since.

"Greg, it's mommy," said Christine Jeanbart. "Sweetie, I am going to come and get you, no matter what. Just hold on tight."

Just as frantic, the mother of Greg's cousins: 8-year old Zaven and 12-year-old Alexander.

"My worst fear is that they are in pain, they are unhealthy, they're worried, they don't understand what's going on," said Zanni Meguerian.

The boys' fathers are wanted by LAPD on suspicion of child abduction.

John Silah operated a real-estate consulting business and his brother George Silah had a check-cashing operation.

They abandoned their Westchester rental property where police found an empty gun case and evidence of an operation to make fake identification.

"He is running away from the Armenian mafia, so I am afraid my son will be caught in between two fires," said Jeanbart. "And that is why I am panicking at this point."

Inside the house, police found documents in a shredder: photos of immigrants, passport applications, her husband's current driver's license.

"I know that they are running away with a lot of money, thousands and millions of dollars," said Jeanbart.

The ex-wives believe the men are in cars stolen from people in Glendale. There's information that George Silah crossed the border into Mexico days before the boys disappeared, but then returned to the U.S.

"I don't know where they are in this world, I don't know if they're still in the country, or out of the country, and what they must be thinking and going through is really what hurts and what makes me really worried and concerned," said Meguerian.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of this family, you're asked to call LAPD detectives at Pacific Division: (310) 482-6313.

The ex-wives say the two men are very friendly, very sociable. They say they're also very deceptive. LAPD tells Eyewitness News the men are simply con artists.

Eyewitness News reporter Melissa MacBride contributed to this report.

 

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local, miriam hernandez

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