Photo: FBI
A missing 8-year-old girl from Washington state has been found alive after getting kidnapped by her mother nearly five years ago, according to KATU. The FBI announced that federal agents located Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez in Michoacán, Mexico last month.
On October 25, 2018, Aranza was kidnapped by her biological mother, who didn't have custody of the girl, from a Vancouver, Washington mall. The FBI worked alongside the Vancouver Police Department to find Aranza, even offering $10,000 for information leading to her recovery. Officials determined the 8-year-old was taken to Mexico but didn't have a way to recover her.
Her mother was arrested in Pueblo, Mexico in September 2019 and extradited to Washington state, per WSAZ. She pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping, robbery, and first-degree custodial interference, according to federal agents. In 2021, the mother was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Once Aranza's location was revealed, Mexican authorities moved in to recover the girl. FBI special agents then escorted the child safely back to the United States.
"For more than four years, the FBI and our partners did not give up on Aranza,” Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, said in a statement. “Our concern now will be supporting Aranza as she begins her reintegration into the U.S.”
No other details were released about the girl for her privacy and safety.