When Sandra Grazzini-Rucki filed for divorce from Dave Rucki, her husband of 20 years, she accused him of abusing her and their five children. Dave Rucki denied all claims and an extremely bitter custody battle ensued. After a court-appointed psychologist said Sandra had been manipulating the children, she lost custody.
One of the five children, Nico Rucki, was 16 when his mother told him she had lost custody. Nico says of his mother: “She told me to run… and, like, don’t come back home, because if I came back home the police would get me.” Nico reveals that before his sisters Samantha and Gianna ran away in 2013, Samantha called him a traitor. The girls were found two years later at a horse ranch that helps abused children heal by working with rescue horses. Both Sandra and David are telling their sides of the twisted story, separately, to ABC News’ Elizabeth Vargas. The interviews will air on ABC 20/20 on Friday, April 8 at 10pm.