Christian and his siblings Joaquin and Sofia disappeared from Lafayette, Indiana on June 6, 2008. Their mother, Sandra Moira Hyland, took them to Argentina. She told their father, her husband Pablo Christian Gallo, that she was taking them on a two- or three-week vacation. She has family there, in Buenos Aires. The children never returned to Indiana, and their parents are now in the process of a divorce.

Pablo stated Sandra refused to let him speak to their children on the phone. He filed for custody of the children and Sandra apparently traveled to the United States without them to attend custody hearings. Pablo was granted custody of the children in 2009, but they were not returned to him. He reported his children's abductions to the police in March 2009. In June 2009, nearly a year after Christian, Joaquin and Sofia left the United States, criminal charges were filed against their mother. Sandra was charged with three felony counts of violating a child custody order.

A photograph and vital statistics for Sandra are posted below this case summary. She has allowed Pablo to talk to the children on the phone periodically. Based on the contents of their conversations, he believes they may be in danger. Their cases remain unsolved.