American girl, 8, missing since 2018 when she was kidnapped, found safe in Mexico and returned to America
Eight-year-old American girl missing since 2018 when she was abducted by her mother from a Washington mall, is found safe and sound in Mexico and brought back to America
- Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was kidnapped by her mother on October 25, 2018
- She was found by Mexican authorities in February in the state of Michoacán
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An eight-year-old American girl who had been missing since 2018 when she was abducted from a shopping mall has been found safe and sound in Mexico and returned to the US.
Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was abducted by her biological mother on Oct. 25, 2018, at a mall in Vancouver, Washington, according to the FBI, which announced her return Wednesday.
Lopez had a supervised visit with her mother, Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez, the day she disappeared, the FBI confirmed to CBS News.
She was found safe in February by Mexican authorities in Michoacán, a state in western Mexico.
FBI special agents returned Lopez to the US after she was found.
Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was abducted by her biological mother at a mall in Vancouver, Washington, on Oct. 25, 2018, according to the FBI
The FBI had offered a $10,000 reward for information that could help them in their search
After the kidnapping, the FBI determined that the eight-year-old had been taken to Mexico.
Her mother was taken into custody in Puebla, a city in east-central Mexico, in September 2019 as the search for the girl continued.
Her mother, Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez, was taken into custody in Puebla, a city in east central Mexico, in September 2019 as the search for the girl continued
She pleaded guilty in 2021 to second-degree kidnapping, robbery and first-degree interference, according to local newspaper The Columbian.
Richard A. Collodi, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, said the police never gave up trying to find Lopez.
“For more than four years, the FBI and our partners have not given up on Aranza,” Collodi said.
‘Our care will now support Aranza in her reintegration in the US’
The FBI had offered a $10,000 reward for information that could help them in their search.
They worked with the Vancouver Police Department in Washington and law enforcement in Mexico on the investigation.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the majority of abducted children are taken by relatives. Only 1 percent of missing child cases are abductions by non-relatives, according to the center’s data.
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