The Intense True Story of ‘No One Saw Us Leave’

No One Saw Us Leave brings another shocking true crime story to the screen.

The Mexican thriller series, set in the 1960s, follows desperate mother Valeria Goldberg as she joins forces with an ex-Mossad agent to track down her two children after their father abducts them. Together, they chase her affluent husband and kids around the world while her in-laws conspire to turn their tight-knit Jewish-Mexican community against her.

Director and executive producer Lucía Puenzo adapted the series from Tamara Trottner’s 2024 memoir Nadie nos vio partir, which recounted the real-life parental kidnapping she experienced when she was 5 years old. She told PRODU in October 2025 that she was drawn to the book’s mix of pain and tenderness.

“Since I read the novel, I found many points of contact with my other films and series. There’s something fierce in the novel — the uncertainty of these two children who slowly understand that what they’re experiencing is a kidnapping, not a trip; that their father can hurt them, that they’re being lied to, that their mother hasn’t forgotten them. That seemed almost unbearable to me,” Puenzo said.

After the series premiered on Netflix in October 2025, viewers were left wondering just how much of its chilling story was real. Here’s everything to know about the true story of No One Saw Us Leave.

Warning: No One Saw us Leave spoilers ahead!

Is No One Saw Us Leave based on a true story?

Yes, No One Saw Us Leave is based on a true story. The series was adapted from Trottner’s memoir about her 1968 kidnapping at the hands of her father. According to her book, she and her brother, Isaac Saltzman, were abducted by their dad, Leo Saltzman.

“I have just turned five,” Trottner wrote in the opening line of Nadie nos vio partir. “This is the last day of my childhood.”

The kids relocated to multiple countries with their father and remained separate from Goldberg for three years. She told De Dientes Para Adentro in September 2023 that though they initially believed they were going on vacation, they realized something was wrong when their father refused to answer questions about their life back home — and their mother.

Why did Leo Saltzman kidnap his children?

Saltzman (played by Alexander Varela) abducted his children as retaliation after finding out about Goldberg’s affair. His actions were defined as “vicarious violence,” a form of abuse in which a father targets his children to cause emotional harm to their mother, per IDEES.

“When I experienced it, the term didn’t even exist,” novelist Trottner told the outlet of her own experience. “It was normal for a father to take his children. Today, the book and the series help make this form of violence visible from the children’s perspective.”

Tessa Ía, the actress who plays Goldberg in No One Saw Us Leave, told PRODU in October 2025 that the mother’s bravery inspired her.

“What stayed with me most was Valeria’s crucial energy and her love for Carlos, which helped her get through everything,” she said. “No matter the hardships and obstacles she encountered along the way, I believe Valeria was always brave and wanted to live, which is what kept her from giving up.”

How did Valeria Goldberg find her children? 

Trottner told Enlace Judío that her father fled with them to Italy, France and South Africa before their mother finally found them “in a kibbutz in Israel.”

“The Jewish community also helped a lot because, thanks to the community, a trial was held in Jerusalem, and then it was obligatory to return to Mexico, to go through the legal system to determine who had parental authority,” she told the outlet in December 2024.

The ending credits of No One Saw Us Leave reveal that the children didn’t see Leo again for 20 years after they reunited with their mother.

What happened to Valeria Goldberg?

While public details about Goldberg’s life after the case are scarce, she eventually regained custody of her children. At the end of the series, viewers also learn that Goldberg stayed with Carlos — the man she had an affair with — until his death in 1997.

In May 2024, Trottner shared a photo with her mom on Instagram in honor of Mother’s Day. “Being the daughter of the most amazing mother, and the mother of the most extraordinary children, and the grandmother of the most beautiful baby in the universe, makes me so grateful and celebrate loudly!!” she captioned the post in Spanish.

Where are Valeria Goldberg’s children now?

Though her younger brother has remained out of the spotlight since the kidnapping, Trottner made a name for herself by telling their story in her 2024 memoir Nadie nos vio partir. She published another book in 2025 — titled Pronunciaré sus nombres — about her grandparents’ journey from Europe to America. She was also involved in creating the Netflix series, per PRODU.

Trottner told Enlace Judío that she has since reunited with her father and is not only “at peace” with what happened but “grateful for it.”