New Delhi:
A toddler, who was kidnapped by her own non-custodial mother in 1999, has been found alive in Mexico, authorities said. Andrea Michelle Reyes, now 27, was allegedly kidnapped by her mother, Rosa Tenorio, from her home in New Haven, Connecticut. Ms Reyes was 23 months old at the time.
Now, 25 years later, authorities, after DNA testing, confirmed Ms Reyes was alive. The girl’s identity was confirmed after “Rapid Relationship Testing” was conducted using her father’s DNA, forensic genealogy company Othram said.
While Ms Reyes’ family always believed she was in Mexico, they could never find her. This is despite her father repeatedly travelling to the country looking for her.
Ms Tenorio, the mother, took Ms Reyes to Puebla, a city southeast of Mexico City, but they were never located, officials reported.
A felony warrant for custodial interference was issued for Ms Tenorio, Othram said in a release.
Multiple age progression photographs of Ms Reyes were released by the authorities. Another criminal warrant was issued in 2009, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
The New Haven Police Department also claimed that an FBI probe was abandoned until it was re-examined in 2023.
When a woman claiming to be Ms Reyes got in touch with the man she thought was her father, detective Kealyn Nivakoff located her in Puebla.
The comparison verified “that the woman who reached out is, in fact, the nearly two-year-old girl kidnapped in October of 1999,” Othram reported.
While Ms Reyes continues to reside in Mexico, her mother’s arrest warrant is still pending in the US. It is not known whether she reunited with her father.
This was the seventh instance in Connecticut where authorities have identified a person using advanced DNA testing.