“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 abducted by her mother. For 25 years, officers knew Andrea Michelle Reyes only by a photo of 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 reinvestigate the 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.