Mexican judge returns teenage girl to US mother after earlier sending wrong teen
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Version 0 of 1. A Mexican judge returned a long-missing teenager to her US mother on Friday, ending the woman’s eight-year search and a cross-border custody case in which another girl was mistakenly sent to Texas against her will. Alondra Díaz, 13, was handed over to the custody of Houston resident Dorotea García in the afternoon after DNA tests confirmed her identity, Judge Cinthia Elodia Mercado said in Los Reyes, a town in the western state of Michoacán. “The recovery of a minor by an applicant mother has happened,” Mercado said. “This is over.” Alondra Díaz was taken to Mexico in 2007 by her father, Reynaldo Díaz, without her mother’s consent, and her whereabouts had not been known until recently. Related: Parents of taken Mexican girl blame judge for mix-up that sent her to Texas The case gained international attention last month after Mercado erroneously ruled that 14-year-old Alondra Luna was the missing girl and ordered her turned over to García. Video recordings circulated widely of Alondra Luna screaming and desperately resisting as police dragged her away. DNA testing performed after the girl was taken to the United States showed she was not García’s daughter, and she returned to her real family in Guanajuato. With a media spotlight now on the case, Reynaldo Díaz delivered the real Alondra Díaz to family members who then presented her to authorities, saying she was prepared to go live with her mother. García had an emotional reunion with her daughter this week in a courtroom in Los Reyes. In the case of the first girl, the judge denied requests by her and her family for DNA tests, saying it was not within her authority. This time Mercado waited for DNA confirmation. The difference in treatment prompted Alondra Luna and her parents to travel to Los Reyes to stake out the courthouse on Friday and demand an apology. “We have been here since 9am and the judge does not want to see us, nor will she open the door, and she says that if we remain here she will call police to remove us,” said Susana Núñez, the girl’s mother. “We want to make it clear that my girl’s rights were trampled.” Núñez said the family intended to file formal complaints next week but wanted to meet face to face with Mercado first to express their displeasure. García indicated previously that she would drop legal complaints against Alondra Díaz’s father if she got custody. |