Not even sure what to title this thread: Soldier and his possible adopted son

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The 24-year-old U.S. Army sergeant was on overseas deployment in Seoul, a patrol supervisor with the 142nd Military Police Company. As the days crept on in January, another role was coming in fast: that of a dad. Garcia waited for his wife Marina to deliver to their child back in Arizona. But when the report came from home, it was bad. Garcia’s sister called to say the baby, a girl, had died in childbirth.

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The shock and grief were quickly sidelined by more complex feelings the next month, when the soldier learned the truth. Not only was the baby alive — and a boy — but the focal point of a bizarre criminal investigation. The child also was not his.

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According to authorities, Marina Garcia lied about the baby’s death to her husband’s family to cover up infidelity. To hide the evidence, she allegedly concocted a plan to hand the newborn over to a couple in Texas, allegedly forging the necessary paperwork to keep the adoption below the legal radar.

“The only thing on her mind was getting rid of this child,” Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre said recently. “The only thing on her mind was getting rid of this child. This ‘problem’ in her life.”

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Back in South Korea, Garcia was contacted by investigators, who told him his child was actually still alive, and a boy. The sergeant took an emergency leave to visit the child, who was taken into state custody. The baby — named Leo, according to the Stars and Stripes — is now with foster parents. Paternity tests determined Garcia was not the father. He has since filed for divorce from his wife.

Although money does not seem to have been exchanged for the child, Marina and the Hernandez’s all faced criminal charges for their role in the scheme.

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But that is not stopping Garcia from trying to stay in the child’s life. He’s already visited Leo eight times and plans to petition for custody. Garcia told News 4 his own experience as an adopted child directed his moral compass.

“My adopted father completely changed my life,” Garcia said. “Without him I would not be where I am today. And for the opportunity to do that for someone else, I believe it’s important. It could change the child’s life and give him a better future and I believe that’s the right thing to do.”

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