More than 40 years after the body of a young mother was found in the waters off the San Mateo Bridge, a major development has finally brought renewed attention to her case – and long-awaited hope for her daughter.
An 81-year-old Bay Area man has been arrested in connection with the death of his former wife, Nancy Galvani, who was just 36 years old when she died in August 1982. It has taken decades, but for their daughter, Alison Galvani, the arrest brings quiet determination and steady resolve for justice that never lost its footing.
When Alison’s mother’s body was found, Alison was only five years old. At the time, Nancy had just left a troubled marriage, and with Alison, she moved into a women’s shelter. A dedicated social worker, Nancy had confided in others that she was fearful for her safety. She took legal measures to protect herself: she filed a restraining order, and she and her husband, Patrick, were embroiled in a hotly contested custody dispute over Alison.
Alison recalls intense moments between her mom and dad. She remembers specific moments of her dad yelling and threatening her mom during arguments. As the custody battle remained ongoing, she would spend weekdays with her mother and weekends with her father.
That night, August 8, 1982, Nancy got a call to come earlier than expected and pick Alison up from Patrick’s house. She left the shelter to retrieve her daughter and was never seen alive again.
When Nancy was killed, Alison was at the house with her father, and police took her away. She has carried one picture with her all of her life: police showing her a picture of a water-soaked sleeping bag. It was the same sleeping bag she and her mother used on a happy picnic celebrating Alison’s kindergarten graduation.
Shortly after Nancy’s death, Patrick was arrested, but several months later, the charges were dropped because, according to authorities, there was a lack of evidence. For years, the case went cold — but Alison never stopped wondering what truly happened to her mother.
As she got older, the questions became resolve. When Alison became a mother herself in 2008, she confronted her father and started a very long and arduous process of trying to reopen the case. She continued this pressure by asking for a reopening of the investigation and even filing a civil lawsuit. She did not want her mom’s story to be forgotten.
Authorities said this week that new evidence and developments in the investigation — more than four decades after Nancy’s death — prompted Patrick’s arrest. For Alison, it’s a powerful moment decades in the making-a step toward truth, accountability, and long-awaited justice for her mother.
