By Mike Clary
Los Angeles Times

MIAMI –– The 5-year-old was bundled into a small boat by his Cuban mother, and whisked away on a desperate crossing of the Florida Straits without permission of the child's father. Now the father is waging an international custody battle to get the child back.

The Elian Gonzalez saga?

No, the Jonathon Colombini story.

One Thanksgiving after Elian was rescued at sea in an inner tube and became the focus of a politically charged drama, the FBI and the State Department have begun an investigation into what seems like a case of Elian in reverse.

Jon K. Colombini, 31, a restaurant kitchen manager, said last week that his ex-wife, Arletis Blanco, took their son Jonathon to Cuba two weeks ago in a boat borrowed from her brother. With Blanco was her boyfriend, Agustin Lemus, 37, and their 18-month-old daughter, Jessica. Blanco and Lemus were born on the island.

"My ex-wife decided she needed to get away, apparently," Colombini said. "She had some things going on."

Indeed, Monroe County sheriff's department officials said that Blanco, 28, is wanted for questioning in the embezzlement of $150,000 from her employer. In audiotapes Blanco left for her parents and her brother, who live in Tavernier, a small town in the Florida Keys, she confessed to taking the money from McKenzie Petroleum, where she worked as an office manager.

Blanco is also being sought on a warrant for interfering with custody, according to sheriff's department spokeswoman Becky Herrin.

A report Wednesday in Cuba's Communist party newspaper Granma confirmed that Jonathon and his mother arrived Nov. 12 in Cuba. They are staying with relatives, the newspaper said, while Lemus and his cousin, Yuriel Leon Lemus, 21, were being detained "awaiting the results of an investigation under way."

It was unclear whether Yuriel Lemus was on the boat from the Florida Keys.

Blanco's mother, Juana, told deputies that she last saw her daughter Nov. 10 and that "after a short conversation she got the feeling that [her daughter] was saying goodbye."

Blanco's brother, Rodolfo, said his sister asked to borrow his 21-foot fishing boat to take her family on a weekend outing, deputies reported. The boat was not returned.

Colombini, working Thanksgiving Day at Gusto's Grill and Bar in Florida City, said he has joint custody of his son, who was born in the United States, and wants him returned.

There are parallels between the case of Elian and Jonathon. Both were 5 when they made the 90-mile crossing of the Gulf Stream, carried in the arms of mothers with new boyfriends.

Left at home were two 31-year-old fathers who said they were given no warning that their son was leaving.

Elian's mother, Elizabeth, perished at sea, along with her boyfriend and eight others.

Colombini said his ex-wife and son made the trip safely, although he had not heard directly from either. But he said he had confirmed they are in Cuba with relatives. And he is worried. "I'm doing my best, staying strong for him," said Colombini, who, like Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, is remarried and has an infant son with his second wife.

The United States has no extradition treaty with Cuba. But a State Department spokesman said in a briefing Tuesday that U.S. officials in Havana have been asked to look into the case.

© 2000 The Washington Post