A child missing from Connecticut since 1999 was found safe and living in Mexico recently, according to Othram, a company that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy.
Now a 27-year-old, Andrea Michelle Reyes was abducted from New Haven by Rosa Tenorio, her non-custodial parent.
Officials said she was taken to Mexico as a 2-year-old, where she and her mother have lived in the city of Puebla for the last 25 years.
Othram said Reyes’ father “searched tirelessly” over the years but never heard from his daughter or the mother.
New Haven police said he even went to Mexico himself several times to look for her in person.
After the kidnapping, New Haven police launched an investigation and issued a felony warrant for Tenorio for custodial interference. Several other agencies helped in the investigation, including the FBI, and age-progressed images of Reyes were created for her missing person’s profile.
New Haven police decided to reopen the cold case in 2023 and were able to locate Reyes by reviewing interviews, search warrants, and social media.
The investigation resulted in Reyes contacting her father after more than 20 years.
“This case reflects the hard work of our officers and detectives. While cases may have investigative leads exhausted at the time, no cold case is ever truly closed. We remain committed to resolving every cold case, and this is a perfect example of that effort,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said.
The arrest warrant for Tenorio remains active but is only valid within the United States, and she is believed to still reside in Mexico.
News 8 spoke with Ken Gray, a distinguished lecturer at the University of New Haven and a retired FBI Special Agent. He shared how difficult these cases can be.
“If a child is kidnapped here in the United States by a parent and taken to Mexico, it’s very hard to get them back from Mexico,” Gray explained. “If the mother remained in Mexico, it would be difficult to get her into the United States to prosecute her.”
Source: WTNH
