Girl's DNA sample a tool in baby Sabrina mystery

Authorities in Illinois have received a sample from Paloma, a child some think might be the missing Aisenberg girl.

TAMPA - The mystery behind whether a little girl in Illinois is actually Sabrina Aisenberg could be answered in the next two weeks.

Authorities in Illinois have received a DNA sample from the girl to compare to DNA from Sabrina, who disappeared from her Valrico home in 1997 when she was 5 months old.

The girl, Paloma, wound up with guardians in Pontiac, Ill., after an unknown Mexican woman dropped her off in a Texas border town in 1998. Her parentage has been a mystery since.

Pontiac Police Chief Donald Schlosser said Paloma's DNA sample will be worked up and then sent to Tampa for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to compare with Sabrina's DNA.

Paloma's guardians "are very cooperative," Schlosser said. "They want to get this situation resolved."

After the woman dropped Paloma off in the Texas town in 1998, Paloma ended up in the care of a registered nurse. The nurse contacted her sister, Sylvia Washko, in Pontiac about looking after the girl. Ever since, Washko and her husband have taken care of the child. A judge awarded them guardianship, although an adoption attempt failed due to a lack of a birth certificate.

Illinois authorities knew about Paloma as far back as 1998, Schlosser said, but an investigation failed to locate her parents. They let the Washkos keep her, but posted her picture on missing children's Web sites to try and find her parents.

In March, Angela Kuieck of Michigan was scanning a missing children's Web site and thought Paloma looked like Sabrina, so she called the Aisenbergs. Authorities then reopened the investigation and asked for a DNA test.

Schlosser said Mexican mothers sometimes bring their children to border towns in hope of giving them a better life in the United States.

"There is no sinister intent on the part of any of the parties that we have been able to determine," he said. "The child is simply being cared for by a loving family."

If the DNA matches Sabrina's, the parents have indicated they will give Paloma to the Aisenbergs without a custody fight, Schlosser said. Many observers have said the chances of a match are a long shot.

Sabrina's case began in November 1997, when her mother, Marlene Aisenberg, reported her missing from her crib in their Brandon home. She has not been seen since.

After a long investigation, the Aisenbergs were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy and making false statements. The case crumbled in 2001 after a federal magistrate judge questioned the government's evidence and the way law enforcement went about collecting it.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday painted a grim picture in a court order of an investigation that lacked credible evidence. He referred to parts of the indictment as "trivial," "gratuitous" and "misleading."

He awarded the Aisenbergs $2.9-million to pay for their legal fees, and ordered the release of normally secret grand jury transcripts from the case, saying the public had a right to know how things went so awry.

Complete transcripts of grand jury testimony almost never become public. Prosecutors present evidence to grand jurors, who decide whether an indictment is warranted.

In federal court in Tampa on Friday, lawyers from both sides argued before Merryday about whether he should release the records or wait until the appeals court decides whether his decision was sound.

Prosectors have maintained that releasing the records would disrupt an ongoing investigation. The "Aisenbergs are still subjects of a joint Federal and State criminal investigation into the disappearance of their child," they have said in court documents.

The Aisenbergs' lawyers counter that no legitimate investigation exists. The prosecutors are trying to keep the truth from coming out, they say.

Merryday had asked the prosecutors to meet with him privately to outline their investigation and show him how releasing the transcripts would disrupt it. On Friday, the prosecutors refused, saying the law did not require them to make such a presentation.

Merryday is expected to rule by Monday afternoon.

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