| abstract | - Theresa Candela is a character portrayed by Judy Reyes in the ABC crime series Castle. Theresa was the adoptive mother of Angela Candela, a kidnap victim. At some point in her marriage, Theresa became frustrated with her husband Alfred Candela's relatively casual approach towards his new role as a parent, Alfred spending most of his time working on paintings that nobody had bought in ages rather than taking proper care of their daughter, merely leaving Angela in front of the television while he painted and listened to his iPod. Theresa, meanwhile, worked 14-hour days to provide for the family. Since she couldn't actually divorce Alfred and keep Angela, as Social Services would regard Alfred as the better parent given that he was more consistently available to take care of the girl, Theresa faked her daughter's kidnapping, with the aid of her sister Nina Mendola. Angela was taken while Alfred was distracted with his painting, Theresa having consulted a lawyer and learnt that Angela could be taken from Alfred if she could prove his negligence. The plan for the kidnapping was for the 'kidnapper' to demand exactly 750 000 dollars - all the money the Candelas had left after the adoption - Theresa creating suspicion that various suspects - such as Lucia Gomez and Juan Restrepo, Angela's biological parents, or Doug Ellers, a former employee at her office who lost his job due to her report - were the guilty parties. When interest in the kidnapping died down after Angela had been returned, Theresa would then initiative divorce proceedings against Alfred, exploiting the fact that their daughter was kidnapped while he was meant to be looking after her. Unfortunately, despite Theresa's plan managing to fool such diverse detectives as Kate Beckett and FBI agent Will Sorenson and allowing her to take the money, the plan failed when Richard Castle - inspired by his memories of his time with his daughter Alexis - realized that the kidnappers had taken only Angela's favorite stuffed rabbit with them, rather than any of her other toys, suggesting a more personal awareness of Angela than had been previously implied. Although she was arrested, Beckett speculated that her sentence might be lighter if enough mothers were on the jury when she came to trial.
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