Andrea Michelle Reyes age-progressed photo, Mexican girl found safe in U.S.

“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. 

Illustration of an anonymous girl sending a 911 text

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.

AMBER Alert Mexico website homepage
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.