B.C. couple visits grandkids in Peru after father charged with murder

A B.C. couple who were worried about their grandchildren after the man accused of murdering their mother was released from jail were able to visit with the kids in Peru.

Al and Kathy Kasatkin travelled to South America this month to see their two grandchildren, ages five and eight, after they were unable to make contact with them by phone. The children are living with their paternal grandmother as their father, Christopher Franz Bettocchi, faces charges of femicide in relation to the death of Al’s daughter, Kimberlee Kasatkin.

On Saturday, Kathy said Al was allowed to visit the kids, but she was prevented from seeing them. The couple has asked the Peruvian court to allow Kathy to visit as well.

“Al did see them. They are there. They are safe,” said Kathy.

The Kasatkins feared the children might have left the country with their father after receiving a tip from someone in Peru. They flew to Peru in early November to check on the kids. They did not see Bettocchi on their trip.

The Abbotsford couple has been to Peru several times since Kimberlee went missing in November 2016. The 41-year-old mother of two was born and raised in B.C. but moved to Peru about four years ago with her common-law partner, Bettocchi. The couple met while he was studying at a college on Vancouver Island.

The Kasatkins became suspicious when Kimberlee stopped making daily phone calls to her sister in B.C. Bettocchi told them she had abandoned her young family, including their kids, who were three and six at the time.

The couple reported their daughter’s disappearance to local police and set off for South America, where they spent six weeks chasing leads and asking police and prosecutors to take the case seriously.

In February 2017, Bettocchi was arrested and charged with femicide, the murder of a woman. He has since been released from jail while awaiting trial.

The case has drawn intense scrutiny from Peruvian media, which aired leaked securitycamera footage showing a man believed to be Bettocchi dragging a large bag from an elevator to a vehicle in the parkade of their home in Miraflores, an upscale district of Lima. It also aired an undated home video showing a bruised Kasatkin accusing her partner of assaulting her.

After a Postmedia News story about the Kasatkin’s worries about their grandchildren, Bettochi reached out to reporters by email.

In a message, he said he was in Peru, disputing information the Kasatkins had received that indicated he might have left the country. He also said his children were not missing, adding “my children are fine, well-kept and living in the same home with my mother since late 2016.” “I am innocent,” he added. “I do not know, either, where Kimberlee is.”

Bettocchi said the Kasatkins are “misinformed” about the police investigation. He also objected to Postmedia’s coverage of the story, asking it to stop publishing anything about the case until it is concluded.

“Only one side of the story has been told, a very biased one,” he wrote. “The true facts have not been exposed yet.”

The Kasatkin family has learned that Peruvian prosecutors on Monday plan to ask for a court order preventing Bettocchi from leaving the country. They hope the trial could begin in about a month.

“Kim should have her day in court, and Christopher should have his day in court,” Kathy Kasatkin told Postmedia.

“Whatever the court decision is, we will stand behind it.”