When she met Donald Santini on May 16, 1980 in Pasadena, Texas, Marla Santini was still Marla Foster. The 17-year-old got pregnant a few months later, married Santini in November 1980, took his last name, and had a baby girl in May of 1981, ready to start a family. Less than two years later, Donald Santini left her and their daughter in the city outside of Houston and never spoke to them again.