The Seattle office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that an eight-year-old girl who disappeared in Washington nearly five years ago was found alive in Mexico.
According to the US authorities, the little girl was identified as Aranza María Ochoa López, who was kidnapped in 2018 by her biological mother in a shopping center in Vancouver, Washington, when she was only four years old.
The FBI indicated that the minor was found in February by the authorities of the Aztec country in the state of Michoacán, but it was not until this week that the information on the case was made public.
“FBI Seattle Announces Recovery of 8-Year-Old Vancouver, Washington Girl Missing Since 2018: In February 2023, Aranza María Ochoa López, an eight-year-old girl who had been missing since October 2018, was safely returned to the United States”, read a statement shared on networks.
FBI Seattle Announces Recovery of 8-Year-Old Vancouver, Washington Girl Missing Since 2018: In February 2023, Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, an eight-year-old girl who had been missing since October 2018, was safely returned to the United States.
— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) March 9, 2023
After recovering the minor, she was transferred to a safe place in the United States, with the FBI ensuring that her safety and privacy were their main objective.
The minor could be found after posters with her face were placed on the streets, offering a reward of $10,000 for information on her whereabouts.
Aranza’s mother, identified as Esmeralda Lynn López López, was arrested in 2019 in the state of Puebla, and in 2021, she was sentenced to 20 months in prison after being found guilty of various crimes, including kidnapping and interference by custody.
The woman lost custody of Aranza in 2017, after the authorities confirmed that she was mistreating the minor. A year later, in October, she took advantage of a moment of distraction during a supervised visit to remove the minor from the shopping center where they were.
2018 4-year-old Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez went #missing from Vancouver, Washington #OTD #missingpeople @missingKids @missingCases @seattletimes @thenewstribune @SpokesmanReview @thecolumbian @EverettHerald @komonews @KING5Seattle @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/sZdMujPuOw
— VanishedPlanet (@MissingVanished) October 25, 2019
Richard A. Collodi, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Seattle, indicated that the authorities never stopped looking, and that the challenge begins now, since the minor must begin to reintegrate into the United States.
