Mother close to bringing son home from Greece

An 11-year-old who has not seen his mom in more than a year is expected to be home by Christmas.  Leo Zagaris has been the center of an international custody battle after his father refused to allow leo return home.

It has been a long battle, but a mother's fight to get her son back on U.S. soil appears to be almost over.

"When I look back on this year, it is like I am remembering bits and pieces of a recurring nightmare," said mother Alissa Zagaris.  "Relief, joy, these are the things that I feel.  Happy that I finally have another country's permission to go and get my little American and bring him home."

We first met Alissa Zagaris one year ago.

"I will not stop, I will not stop.  He has never given me anything more to fight for," said Zagaris in November of 2011.

Zagaris did not stop, through a custody battle filled with peaks and valleys.  Then, on September 28th of this year, the news she had been anxiously awaiting, her son's ordered return to the U.S.

"To get that acknowledgment was huge," said Zagaris.

Alissa's son Leo is in Greece with his father Nikos.  After the family split in 2007, Nikos moved back to his homeland of Marathon, Greece.  Alissa and Nikos Zagarias were sharing custody of their 11-year-old son, until Nikos refused to let Leo return to the states.

"Our lives are incomplete right now," said Alissa Zagaris.  "Without him here it is like everything has been on hold.  I can not function with half of a heart, and half of my heart is an ocean and two seas away."

A football, and favorite books await 11-year-old Leo when he comes home.  In the corner of the room, a Mother's Day card, along with her son's passport have been serving as motivation for Alissa to continue her fight.

Joe LePage: "How important was that to have all of this here with all of his pictures up and the room just like he had it before?"
Alissa Zagaris: "It is a comfort, in times when I needed to deny this was happening, it helped me with that.  In times when I needed to rise up and start fighting again, it encouraged me to do that."

It is not just family gearing up for the homecoming, Leo's best friend is also anxiously awaiting his return.

"We were sitting there and then we were jumping around, screaming," said friend Morgan Eldridge.  "I really can not wait until he gets home."

Zagaris said she knows she will bring her son back, her one big fear is a delay in her case.

"If that is the case, hopefully Leo can hang out with me in the hotel while we are there because I am not leaving until I have him," said Zagaris. 

Alissa Zagarias heads back to Greece in early December.  The hearing is set for December 13th.  Her plan is to have her son Leo home, in Noblesville, by Christmas.