“No cold case is ever truly closed.” So said New Haven, Connecticut, Police Chief Karl Jacobson in crediting officers and detectives for their diligence in reinvestigating the cold case of a toddler abductedby her mother. For 25 years, officers knew Andrea Michelle Reyes only by a photoof a smiling dark-haired child in a pink-checked outfit. Reyes was about 2 years old and under custody of her father when her mother abducted her, then was suspected of fleeing to Mexico. Two years ago, Detective Kealyn Nivakoff began to reinvestigatethe case. Through interviews, search warrants, and social media, she was able to connect with Reyes in the Mexican city of Puebla. Subsequently, Reyes contacted the man she believed to be her father, who had searched tirelessly for her since the 1999 abduction. Advanced DNA testing confirmed the familial relationship. An arrest warrant for the mother, Rosa Tenorio, remains valid in the United States; she is believed to be in Mexico.
A teenage girl abducted and trafficked from Mexico was safely recovered after sending a series of text messages in Spanish to a 911 telecommunicator in California. About 20 minutes after her pleas for help came in, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputies safely recovered the frightened girl, who was believed to be no older than 17. The case highlights the effectiveness of allowing text messages to a call center and using integrated translation technology to bridge language barriers. “Young people text—that’s how they communicate,” a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. “So her first instinct is to text. Well, she texted 911 and … that works.” The girl, who had no idea where she was when she was able to quietly gain access to a cell phone in the early morning hours, identified landmarks that led deputies to her. A subsequent investigation revealed she had been trafficked from Mexico two months earlier. She provided information that led to the arrest of a 31-year-old man from Veracruz, Mexico, for human trafficking and luring, among other charges.
Police officers in Kennewick, Washington, are investigating whether a viral TikTok video from Mexico shows a woman who was abducted nearly two decades ago shortly before her fifth birthday. The case remains open for Sofia Juarez, who was kidnapped on February 4, 2003, and sparked the state’s first AMBER Alert. The video is less than a minute long and shows a woman who claims she was abducted but said she doesn’t know where she’s from.
A couple was arrested after the Attorney General of Mexico City offered a 2 million pesos reward (about $80,000 USD) for information leading to the capture of the people involved with kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old girl. A woman picked up the girl from her elementary school on February 11, 2020, and said she was going to take her home. Surveillance video shows the woman and girl walking down the street. Five days later the child was found deceased in a garbage bag. Police say the woman gave the girl as a “gift” to her abusive husband. The child was killed when the husband saw a TV report of her disappearance and the active police search. An autopsy revealed the child had been sexually assaulted before her death. The Mexican Public Ministry is seeking the maximum penalty for both the abductor and the murderer, a sentence of 70 years each.
Law enforcement officers in Texas, California, Arizona, and Mexico worked together to safely recover a child during a mock abduction exercise on March 18, 2016. The AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) provided an Internet-accessible platform for collaboration and the real-time interaction of all participants. The event presented participants with a challenging scenario-based incident involving a child abduction in Mexico in which coordination and assistance from AMBER Alert Plans in the U.S. was utilized to safely recover the child.
The first of its kind tabletop exercise included representatives from Dallas and Laredo, Texas; Sacramento, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, Mexico. On May 25, 2016, Mexico also hosted an International Missing Children’s Day event with AMBER Alert coordinators from Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Janet Turnbull, resident legal advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) program, was involved to support Mexico’s Alerta Amber program.
“This new training method allows us to test the technology needed to connect child protection officials in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and continue to improve our ability to react quickly and effectively to abductions and predators across our borders,” said AATTAP Director James Walters.
“We are looking for ways to increase cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. on cross-border abductions involving children,” expressed Turnbull. “This training helps us accomplish this important goal.”
More than 160 participants from 28 Mexican states attended the second national Alerta AMBER (AMBER Alert) Forum on May 26-27, 2014. The two-day training was held in Mexico City and included case studies and best practices for using social media and other means to communicate quickly when a child is abducted.
Mexico's Attorney General's Office reported that 105 children have been recovered through the country's new child abduction alert system. Mexico issued 187 alerts nationwide between May 2012 and November 30, 2013.
The meeting in May was also used to launch Mexico's official AMBER Alert website: www.alertaamber.gob.mx. The website will provide case management for distributing alert information. A mobile app was also developed to notify the public about an AMBER Alert.
The border town of Laredo, Texas, was the site of a major training event for Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials hoping to stop human trafficking and child abductions. On July 9 and 10, 2013, more than 70 local, state, and federal law enforcement and victim advocate representatives from U.S. and Mexico met to discuss efforts to protect children.
The agenda included discussions about efforts in Mexico to find missing and abducted children, border security and human trafficking and an exercise involving the recovery of an abducted child.
“All participants cited the need for continued collaboration and the value of actually working closely with their counterpart from the neighboring country,” said Phil Keith, Program Director of the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program.
The training was part of the Southern Border Initiative, a U.S. Department of Justice program aimed at stopping child abductions, child exploitation and trafficking on the southern border of the U.S.
“The reality is the majority of juveniles who are trafficked in the U.S. are trafficked domestically,” said Jim Walters, Southern Border AMBER Alert Liaison. “They are U.S. citizens or have dual citizenship in Mexico. Somebody lures them in or forces them into being exploited.”
Mexico has launched an AMBER Alert program similar to the U.S. system and is now using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to increase the number of people looking for an abducted child.
“The participants worked well and identified strengths and weaknesses on both sides,” concluded Keith.
Ten TV stations aired false alerts about a zombie invasion in February 2013. Hackers entered the Emergency Alert System through the “back door” of the security system and sent the message to viewers in Montana, Michigan, California, Utah, and New Mexico. Each incident included a TV crawl and a mechanically altered voice warning of “zombies attacking the living.” The FBI and FTC are investigating the breach.
Mexico became the first Latin American country to implement an AMBER Alert Program and the tenth in the world. The program called “Alerta AMBER Mexico” was developed through a joint training program by the U.S. AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program, U.S. Embassy Mexico City, and Office of Prosecutorial Development and Training (OPDAT).
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Anthony Wayne formally recognized Mexican citizens who used the AMBER Alert to safely recover 2 children. The honors were held in Mexico City on November 28, 2011, during an AMBER Alert training session for emergency call takers. The state of San Luis Potosi used the AMBER Alert to find a 16-year-old boy last September, and the states of Morelos and Sonora worked together on an alert which led to the recovery of a 14-year-old girl last August. Last spring, law enforcement officials launched the new National AMBER Alert Protocol of Mexico, which is modeled after the U.S. AMBER Alert System.
The Office of the Chihuahua Attorney General in Juárez, Mexico, passed out fliers in November as part of a campaign to stop the disappearances of women and girls. The fliers were used to alert people to the Alba Protocol, a program similar to the AMBER Alert, which is used to notify the public when a person is missing. The Attorney General's Office said there are 57 current investigations about missing women and young girls in Juárez so far this year. The public can report missing women to the toll-free number 01-800-838-78-30.
Mexican law enforcement officers detained more than 1,000 men and women in July during an investigation of sexual exploitation and human trafficking in Juárez. The Mexican Public Safety Ministry said the sweep was part of Mexico's child abduction recovery plan under the new National AMBER Alert Program.
Officers removed people out of 24 bars, 3 hotels, and 2 guest homes and transported them to state police offices. A total of 20 female minors were rescued, and 500 men and 530 women were detained on suspicion of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
On the same day of the operation, the AMBER Alert operation was launched, and Mexican officials issued an Alba Alert for an 18-year-old girl who went missing on her way to apply for a job in downtown Juárez. The alert was sent to U.S. immigration authorities in case she crossed the international bridge.
Mexico plans to have a fully operational nationwide AMBER Alert Program by early 2012.
Mexico is now fully committed to the AMBER Alert Program. Top Mexican law enforcement and government officials announced on April 28, 2011, in Mexico City that a national protocol and implementation of Alerta AMBER for the entire country.
The Attorney General's Office will oversee Mexico's AMBER Alert Program with support from the Public Safety Ministry and the National Registry of Missing Persons. The plan will create a network between law enforcement, government officials, and the media to immediately notify the public when a child has been abducted.
"It is necessary to establish coordination, maximize the use of technology, and provide training to those responsible for operating the AMBER Alert in each of the states," said Francisco Blake Mora, Mexico's Secretary of the Interior.
The Mexican House of Representatives is already considering legislation to strengthen and expand the AMBER Alert Program. Rep. Arturo Zamora Jiménez presented an amendment to make the program part of the Mexican legal code.
"This is an act of utmost importance to protect the interests of minors," said Rep. Zamora Jiménez. "We need to commit our country to protecting the rights of children and adolescents and stopping crimes involving Mexican children."
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice began the Southern Border Initiative to extend the AMBER Alert Program into Mexico. Baja California launched the first AMBER Alert Program in Mexico in 2009. Tamaulipas, Nuevo Léon, and Sonora are also developing AMBER Alert programs, and Chihuahua has a child abduction alert plan that uses a different name.
OJJDP Program Manager Cecilia Duquela has worked with Fox Valley Technical College for the past five years to make this dream a reality. "Obviously, I'm very proud and excited about this partnership with Mexico to rescue children and bring them home," said Duquela.
She said federal law enforcement agencies and state attorneys general offices were on board since the beginning. "The best way to describe it is engaged," she said. "They are committed to bringing AMBER Alerts into their states."
Mexico plans to have a fully operational nationwide AMBER Alert Program by early 2012.
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, nearly 400 American children have been recovered in Mexico. "Obviously, you want to make all the resources and tools available to keep all children safe, but this will bring more U.S. children home," added Duquela.
AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program Director Phil Keith sums up the reason behind the massive effort to bring AMBER Alerts into Mexico in a few words: “Our goal is pretty simple: to protect children.”
In 2006, the Department of Justice launched the Southern Border Initiative (SBI) to extend the AMBER Alert Programs into Mexico and develop a seamless network throughout North America. “The experience in Mexico is similar to what was encountered in the United States and Canada with regard to the struggles and challenges of implementation,” noted Keith.
Baja California launched Mexico's first AMBER Alert Program in 2009. The Baja California Attorney General has been instrumental in pushing the program. So far, Baja California has issued two alerts but has received more than 50 requests. Chihuahua has a system that is similar to the AMBER Alert Program but has a different name. Tamaulipas is the second state to develop an AMBER Alert Program, with representatives from health, public safety, transportation, and other government agencies all participating in child recovery training; a mass media campaign for AMBER Alerts will be launched soon. Nuevo León is developing what it hopes will be Mexico's first comprehensive child recovery program, with an AMBER Alert plan also being developed with the help of the state's Attorney General.
The SBI also set some goals for the upcoming year, including developing a best practice guide and translating all AMBER Alert documents into Spanish, starting a help desk for Spanish speaking professionals, continuing joint training sessions and developing online training courses, partnering with international transportation organizations, and creating formal documents to outline responsibilities and protocols.
“There is still much to be done, but the Department of Justice and its partners will continue to work to bring the AMBER Alert Program to Mexico,” said Cecilia Duquela-Fuentes, OJJDP Program Manager.
Representatives from both sides of the border have met regularly since 2006. They also have met with high level decision makers to fully implement AMBER Alerts in Mexico. “Patience, compromise, and partnership are all needed to develop programs across Mexico,” said Tamaulipas AMBER Alert Coordinator Willy Zuniga Castillo.
Isabel Miranda de Wallace, the mother of an abduction victim who was murdered, hopes the AMBER Alert Programs will make a real difference in her country. “You are surrounded by fellow sons and daughters of Mexico, all of whom share the goal of protecting children.”
The Mexican state of Nuevo León has signed on to create Mexico's first comprehensive child recovery program. The plan came after Nuevo León prosecutors, child protection officials, investigators, and legislators met in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Monterrey, Mexico, in September for the Department of Justice's AMBER Alert Southern Border Initiative.
More than 4.5 million people live in the Mexican state, which borders Texas. Nuevo León Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza signed an agreement on child protection related issues with the Attorney General of Texas that will be the foundation for the plan.
"We want to be able to recover children in our country," said Manuel Guzmán, an engineer with a training and education company in Monterrey, Mexico who is assisting with the development of distance learning courses related to the AMBER Alert Southern Border Initiative. "Nuevo León is a state in transit because many people from other countries come through here to go to the United States. We have to worry about these situations and how they affect missing children."
Guzmán said the attorney general, governor, and legislators in Nuevo León will work together to establish good relationships with the border states on the issue of missing and abducted children. Efforts will also be made to educate the public and train police officers on child recovery practices.
Ron Laney, Associate Administrator of OJJDP's Child Protection Division, said Nuevo León's plan is very impressive considering the strife going on in Mexico right now. "They are at war," said Laney. "It speaks volumes that they care enough to come to a meeting to learn about protecting children. They know they are looking at life and death every day, but that has not stopped their commitment to look out for children."
Baja California was the first Mexican state to establish an AMBER Alert program in May 2009, and was soon followed by the state of Tamaulipas. Jim Walters, Southern Border Initiative Liaison for Training and Technical Assistance, said Nuevo León is taking child recovery efforts a step further. "Nuevo León has started the first regional and comprehensive child recovery program in Mexico," said Walters. "They are interested in creating a program that works to recover missing, endangered and abducted children, regardless of borders."
The Mexican state of Tamaulipas has developed a statewide AMBER Alert program, "Alerta AMBER-Tamaulipas", to help in the recovery of missing and abducted children in the state and across the U.S. – Mexico border. Tamaulipas is the second Mexican state to join the AMBER Alert network. Since it participated in the initial AMBER Alert Southern Border Initiative meeting held in San Diego, California, in September of 2009, Tamaulipas has made steadfast progress in developing the necessary resources to implement a successful program.
Even though the state is currently facing unprecedented levels of violence, it has made the establishment of an AMBER Alert program one of its top priorities. In 2009 Tamaulipas appointed a State AMBER Alert Coordinator, Willy Zúñiga Castillo, who is part of the Office of the State Attorney General. Mr. Zúñiga Castillo has taken the lead in educating the media, law enforcement, public safety, health and other stakeholders and partners across the state in the importance of AMBER Alerts and the criteria required to activate an Alert. He was also responsible for coordinating specialized AMBER Alert training for state personnel from Tamaulipas. Representatives from Tamaulipas and Texas met in Brownsville, Texas in July of this year to receive joint AMBER Alert training as part of the Department of Justice's efforts to establish greater cooperation among U.S. and Mexican border states in cases involving endangered, missing and abducted children.
Under the leadership of the State Attorney General, Jaime Rodriguez Inurrigaro, and the Principal Deputy Attorney General, Hernán De La Garza Tamez, Tamaulipas has developed the operational bases for its statewide AMBER Alert program and for the development of an agreement with Texas on the issuance of AMBER Alerts. The state will also be an important resource in providing training and technical assistance to other Mexican states that wish to establish an AMBER Alert program, including the neighboring state of Nuevo León.
On January 25-26, 2010, a Tribal and Southern Border Initiative Workshop was held in San Diego to examine ways to keep Tribal and national borders from becoming barriers to recovering abducted children. Representatives from Tribal, Mexican, and California border communities attended the workshop. Participants discussed the importance of call taking, the initial response to a child abduction, and the creation of community-based Child Abduction Response Teams.
