Judge will decide custody

A Boundary County judge must determine whether or not a grandmother from Argentina is fit to take custody of two Moyie Springs orphans whose parents died in an Oct. 3 car accident.

Judge Justice Julian is expected to make a decision based on testimony from last week’s three-day trial, which involved a Spanish-speaking interpreter for grandmother Violeta Conti.

A two-page handwritten will from May 23, 2002, indicated accident victims Karl Heiss and his wife, Marisa Bauducco-Heiss, would want their children, Aliana, 12, and Alden, 7, to go to Marisa’s mother in Argentina if something happened to them. The will also indicated that Karl Heiss’ parents, Fred and Annabelle Heiss of Malibu, Calif., would get the children one month a year.

After the will was determined valid, the Heisses and their daughter, Maia Heiss, filed a lawsuit. They claimed Conti, who lives in Argentina, was unfit to act as the guardian, according to court documents.

The Heisses gave 29 reasons for Conti being unfit, including an inability to speak to the children, failure to meet the children’s educational needs set forth by Idaho code and taking them to a strange place at a time when they need familiarity to deal with their loss, according to court documents.

The will also indicated the parents’ wishes for their children to be raised in Idaho, which the Heisses have said they are willing to do.

Karl, 43, and Marisa Heiss, 41, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident in Chehalis, Wash. Alden was treated at a local hospital, while his sister was placed on life support at a hospital in Seattle.

Both sets of grandparentscurrently share custody of the children. Annabelle and Fred Heiss are home-schooling Alden.

According to testimony during the trial, Aliana remains at the Ashley House in Tacoma, Wash. The Ashley House is for children who suffer catastrophic injuries who might otherwise have to stay in a hospital.

In response to the suit, Conti’s attorney said the Heisses’ claims “are unfounded.”

Conti, 65, is a retired art and music teacher with no criminal history. She raised five additional children, all of whom live nearby her in Argentina.

“She spent most of her life caring for children of her own and students,” according to court documents.

Libby Harvey testified during the trial that she has seen Alden and Conti together in recent months. Conti is staying at the Ronald McDonald House, which gives families a place to stay that’s close to a hospital.

“I’ve seen and watched very carefully,” Harvey testified. “I’ve seen the heart-warming difference in the way Alden relates to Violeta. He jumps on her like a monkey. They laugh and play.”

She told the court she has not seen a lot of frustration with the language barrier.

“He figures out a way and she figures out a way,” Harvey said. “They have a lot of fun and she has a wonderful rapport with him. She sets boundaries. It’s a flourishing relationship.”

“It makes me very happy since their wishes were to go to them,” she continued. “I see a very good match.”

king toward the best interest of the children.�