Andrea Michelle Reyes was kidnapped from New Haven, Connecticut, in 1999 when she was just 23 months old and has finally been reunited with her father after decades apart
Missing girl Andrea Michelle Reyes was miraculously found alive after she vanished 26 years ago with police finally revealing what happened to her.
Now 27-year-old Ms Reyes was snatched from New Haven, Connecticut in 1999 by her biological mother Rosa Tenorio when she was just 23 months old. She was discovered in Puebla, Mexico, following an investigation by officials who opened her cold case file in 2023 and used new DNA technology in a bid to find her.
New Haven Police Department said in a statement shared to social media that detective Kealyn Nivakoff had located Ms Reyes. She was found following a “combination of interviews, search warrants and social media,” and that she had been reunited with her dad who had sole custody of her when she was abducted.
In a statement shared to X/Twitter on March 5, police said: “Detective Nivakoff determined that Andrea, now in her 20s, had been taken by Rosa to Mexico and was residing in Puebla, a city of over a million people.
The statement added Nivakoff “was able to establish contact with Andrea and, in partnership with the DNA testing at company Ortham, confirm the relationship between father and daughter.” After officials located Ms Reyes, they were able to reunite her with her dad, whose identity was not shared, so they could have their first meeting in more than 20 years.
New Haven police said the warrant for Ms Reyes’ mother is still active and is viable to the US and that she is still believed to be in Mexico. Police said Ms Reyes’ dad had gone to Mexico several times in a bid to find his daughter, though they all proved fruitless.
Authorities said in their statement: “No cold case is ever closed, we remain committed to resolving every cold case and this is a perfect example of that effort.” There have been several other instances where investigators have aided in the search for missing people having used aged-processed images and they did so for Ms Reyes.
The case emerged following the case of missing Abdul Aziz Khan, who was found after he vanished seven years ago. Abdul was found by complete chance about 1,500 miles from home and, now 14, the youngster has been reunited with his family in Atlanta, Georgia.