Case of 'kidnapped' mom a shocker
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If you made up a shopping list to collect all the ingredients for the classic version of the hyper-charged American suburban mom of the 21st century, it might read something like this:
• Large, well-kept house on a quiet cul-de-sac, with an expensive SUV in the garage: Check.
• Blond-streaked, picture-perfect hair-do: Check.
• Works full-time yet still takes part in a full array of activities at kid's school: Check.
• Expensive fertility treatments to conceive a third child: Check
• Vacations in Colorado and Disney World: Check.
But somewhere along the way, 38-year-old Bonnie Sweeten's recipe for the American Dream went wrong. And when problems that had been simmering below the surface finally boiled over, they shattered her carefully crafted illusion of suburban bliss in Bucks County and shocked neighbors who knew her only as a picture-perfect mom.
Ms. Sweeten, who police said faked a kidnapping of herself and her 9-year old daughter then fled to Disney World in the midst of serious financial troubles, seemed to have it all.
From modest beginnings in a blue-collar neighborhood, she built piece-by-piece an enviable upper-middle class lifestyle seemingly through hard work, high energy and luck. A paralegal and notary public, she held a full-time job at a law firm, was an active PTA mom and helped her husband run a landscaping business.
But her life started to resemble one of the Desperate Housewives -- neighbors are calling her Saxon Drive street Wisteria Lane -- as she allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to police, to finance her increasingly expensive lifestyle.
Ms. Sweeten faces charges of identity theft and making false reports to police. The investigation of her alleged financial wrongdoings is continuing, police said.
Authorities said she might have taken money from financial accounts belonging to several people, including her parents and a former co-worker at a law firm run by Debbie Ann Carlitz. Police are also looking into her conduct at the New Hope firm, where she worked for 15 years before it closed in September, and at the Carlitz Foundation, which was formed in October to raise money for autism programs and other children's charities.
Ms. Carlitz's attorney, Ellen C. Brotman, declined to elaborate on Ms. Sweeten's arrest or the reported investigation of theft of money from Ms. Carlitz, with whom she had a close relationship.
How much and from whom Ms. Sweeten might have stolen are just a few of the questions swirling in the vortex of confusion caused by the model-tall blond in the last few days.
What is known about the mystery mom is that she grew up in Trevose, Bucks County, in a small, stone ranch house. She graduated from Bensalem High School in 1989 and by 1991 had moved in with the family of Anthony Rakoczy a few blocks away. They married the following year.
That same year, court records show, Mr. Rakoczy was arrested on drug charges, accused of trafficking marijuana and methamphetamine from California for distribution in Pennsylvania. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence, refiled in 1993 and dismissed again on other procedural grounds.
The couple eventually separated. Bonnie Rakoczy returned to using her maiden name, Bonnie Siner, before becoming engaged to Richard L. Sweeten, a PennDOT employee. Before their marriage in 2005, the couple started a landscaping business called L&B -- presumably for Larry, which Mr. Sweeten used, and Bonnie -- Lawn Maintenance.
Back then, said Michael Markloff, 20, who worked for the couple, Bonnie was living in the Eastern Dawn Mobile Home Park, while Mr. Sweeten lived with his parents on Boston Avenue.
He recalled her as down-to-earth, friendly and intelligent, often donning jeans and an old T-shirt to pitch in with the work.
"Just your normal, 30-year-old household mom," Mr. Markloff said. "If what they are saying about her now is true, I just don't know what to think."
A year after the Sweetens married, and with the landscaping business under way, they took a big financial leap -- the first of many that might have led to Ms. Sweeten's undoing -- purchasing a $424,978 four-bedroom house on Saxon Drive in Lower Southampton with a hefty $403,729 mortgage.
The family of four moved in with Ms. Sweeten's two daughters from her first marriage, Julia, 9, and Paige, 15. Eight months ago, she gave birth to another daughter, Faith, after spending tens of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments, police said.
With Ms. Sweeten handling the family finances, her husband has said, he had no idea what was going on with their money.
Ms. Sweeten's Facebook page gives a peek at her life as a busy suburban mom. She says she loves to shop with her daughters and go snow mobiling with friends in Colorado. Her favorite TV show is "Top Chef" and her favorite movie is "Pretty Woman," about a prostitute who falls in love with a wealthy man. She doesn't like to read "at all," and always tells her two older daughters to "make good choices."
Ms. Sweeten's taste for the good life can be seen in the car she drove, a 2005 Yukon Denali SUV worth about $50,000 new -- which she ditched in Center City en route to Florida -- and the hotel she checked into with her daughter in Disney World, the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, the crown jewel of the theme park hotels, where rates start at $399 a night.
Larry Sweeten, appearing Friday morning on NBC's "Today" show, said his wife tried to call collect twice Thursday night from jail, but that his cellular service would not accept the charges.
When he first heard about the "abduction," he reacted as if it had been true.
"I drove up and down Street Road, where she said it happened, I called the father of her other children, I called my dad, I had as many people out as I could. ... We were searching everywhere."
When he found out she was in Disney World, "I was just trying to find out what was going on, like everybody else. I just hope that everybody out there doesn't believe everything that they're hearing. Everybody who knows her knows she's a great person, and these rumors can't be true."
Neighbors were left to wonder about the woman they have come to know and like in the past few years. Fred Goodson, 40, whose children play with Ms. Sweeten's daughter Julia, said she bought birthday presents for all the kids in the neighborhood and frequently hosted neighborhood yard parties.
"She's a great, great lady," he said.
Her recent actions seemed way out of character, he said, describing her as friendly and genuine.
"I doubt you would come across anyone who said she is a terrible mother," he added.
Another woman, Denise Faul, said she was "shocked" and "Bonnie is a great neighbor."
Friends listed on Ms. Sweeten's Facebook page were also supportive and seemed willing to forgive her for the frantic hours they spent thinking that she and her daughter had been kidnapped.
A note from Ms. Sweeten's older daughter, Paige, left to imagine what awful fate might befall her mother and sister, showed just how traumatic the episode was for those closest to her.
"Mom I know you cant read this but your my whole life your my mommy that's a big role you made me the person I am today ... your maybe just in a bad place for whatever reason, im not mad i hold nothing against you, i just wanna see you and hug you and just be with you again, i wish I would of hugged you longer Tuesday or even just said i love you more ... just come okay & I love you, so much but im sure you know that."
First Published June 1, 2009 12:00 am
