Mexican girl claims to be Texas woman's daughter after mistaken identity mishap

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/11/mexico-girl-texas-woman-daughter-mistaken-identity

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A girl claiming to be a Houston woman’s daughter illegally taken to Mexico eight years ago has turned herself in to a court that mistakenly sent another girl to the US against her will last month, an official said on Monday.

The court official in the south-western state of Michoacán said a girl who identified herself as Alondra Díaz showed up at the court building accompanied by three relatives.

The official, who was not authorised to be quoted by name and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the court was evaluating the girl’s paperwork and identity documents.

The whereabouts of Alondra Díaz have been unknown since 2007, when her father allegedly took her to Mexico without her mother’s consent.

Related: Mistaken identity: girl pulled screaming from Mexican school and sent to Texas

In April, a judge erroneously sent another girl named Alondra to be reunited with Houston resident Dorotea García, who was convinced she was her long-lost daughter.

The case attracted international attention after video circulated on social media showing Alondra Luna Núñez being taken kicking and screaming from court by police.

Days later, DNA testing in the US proved that Alondra Luna was not García’s daughter, and she was returned to her family in Guanajuato, Mexico. The girl and her family had asked for a DNA examination before she was sent to Texas, but the judge said that was not within her authority and declined to order the test.

Prosecutors are investigating the case.

Susana Núñez, the mother of Alondra Luna, sounded a note of caution after what she called her family’s nightmare.

“I hope the authorities simply make sure that this girl is truly her, that they have the right girl,” Núñez told the Associated Press by phone.

If it turns out to be the right Alondra, she said: “I’m happy for her and her mother.”

Núñez said her daughter was doing well following her ordeal, returning to school and resuming the usual life of a teenager.

“She has calmed down,” Núñez said.