THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Nearly 26 years after a toddler was abducted from New Haven, Connecticut, she’s been located more than 2,600 miles away in Puebla, Mexico.
Andrea Michelle Reyes was 23 months old when police said her mother, Rosa Tenorio, abducted her from her father, who had custody.
The New Haven Police Department and other agencies investigated Andrea’s kidnapping.
The little girl’s description and photo were shared by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They also created age progression photos showing what Andrea might look like as she got older.
Over the years, Andrea’s heartbroken father searched tirelessly but never heard from his daughter or her mother again.
Then, in 2023, police said a woman claiming to be Andrea contacted the father.
To confirm her identity, NHPD worked with Othram, an accredited forensic laboratory in The Woodlands, north of Houston. They specialize in cutting-edge forensic-genomic techniques.
“Whether it is unidentified human remains, the identity of a suspect in a crime or, like in this case, confirming the identity of a woman who has been missing for decades, we do the same thing every day–we find answers for families,” Kristen Mittelman, Chief Development Officer for Othram, explained.
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The woman provided a DNA sample, which was compared to the father’s DNA profile. The samples confirmed that she is his now 27-year-old daughter. She had been living in Puebla, southeast of Mexico City, all these years.
It’s not clear if Tenorio is also there and whether she still faces charges in Connecticut.
KHOU 11 has reported on several cases that Othram experts have helped solve in recent years.