On Wednesday, the FBI announced that 8-year-old Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, who went missing from Vancouver, Washington in October 2018, had been found in Mexico.[0] Lopez was last seen with her biological mother, Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez, at a mall in Vancouver, Washington during a court-supervised visitation.[1]
The FBI, along with the Vancouver Police Department, Washington State’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Fiscalía General del Estado de Michoacán, and the Instituto Nacional de Migración, had been offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to her recovery.[2] The agency issued a missing person poster and eventually determined that she had been taken to Mexico.[3]
Lopez-Lopez was arrested in September 2019 in Puebla, Mexico and was found guilty of second-degree kidnapping, robbery and first-degree custodial interference in January 2021.[4] She received a 20-month prison sentence.[5]
When she was kidnapped, Lopez was in foster care due to complaints that her mother had physically abused her.[6] Twice-weekly supervised visits were granted to Lopez-Lopez.[7]
Mexican authorities located Lopez in February in Michoacán, a state in western Mexico. FBI special agents then escorted the child safely back to the U.S.[8]
Richard A. Collodi, the head of the FBI's Seattle office, assured that law enforcement would not cease their search for Lopez.[9] “Our concern now will be supporting Aranza as she begins her reintegration into the U.S.,” he said.[10]
The FBI noted that Lopez’s safety and privacy is of utmost importance and her location in the U.S. is not being disclosed.[6] Most abducted children are taken by family members, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with only 1 per cent of missing children cases involving abductions by non-family members.[5]
0. "Aranza Lopez, 8-year-old Vancouver girl missing since 2018, found in Mexico" New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
1. "Girl, 8, kidnapped from Washington state mall in 2018 found alive in Mexico" The Independent, 9 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
2. "8 year-old Vancouver WA girl recovered after being kidnapped in 2018" KIRO Seattle, 8 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
3. "Missing girl, 8, who was snatched from shopping mall in 2018 is found alive and well thousands of miles..." The Sun, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
4. "Missing 8-year-old who vanished in 2018 found alive and well in Mexico by FBI agents" Daily Star, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
5. "Kidnapped girl found alive five years later" news.com.au, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
6. "Washington state girl, 8, missing since 2018 found in Mexico and returned to U.S." msnNOW, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
7. "Girl who was abducted from Washington mall in 2018 found in Mexico" Sky News, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
8. "Child Who Went Missing From A Washington Mall In 2018 Found Safe In Mexico" Investigation Discovery, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
9. "US girl, 8, missing since 2018 kidnap found in Mexico and returned" Daily Mail, 10 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
10. "FBI: 8-year-old WA girl missing since 2018 found in Mexico, safely returned home" FOX 13 Seattle, 8 Mar. 2023, [ Ссылка ]
