Missing 8-year-old girl found alive in Mexico

VANCOUVER, Wash. — An 8-year-old girl who had been missing from Washington state since 2018 has been found alive in Mexico.

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The FBI announced this week that Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was found safe in Michoacán by Mexican authorities, KIRO reported.

Aranza has since been returned to the U.S. by FBI special agents.

At the time of her kidnapping, Aranza was in foster care after there had been allegations of physical abuse by her mother, Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez. Officials said Aranza had large bruises on her body. They also said Lopez-Lopez was a danger because of a history of abuse, for not participating in a mental health assessment and what they called erratic behavior, the newspaper, The Columbian reported.

Federal officials said Aranza was taken by Lopez-Lopez on Oct. 25, 2018, from the Vancouver Mall during a court-supervised visitation, KATU reported.

Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez had asked to use the restroom during the visit and left in a stolen vehicle, driven by an accomplice, The Columbian reported.

Lopez-Lopez was arrested in Puebla, Mexico, in 2019, extradited to the U.S., and sentenced to 20 months in prison. She had pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery and first-degree custodial interference, KPTV reported.

At the time of her conviction, Lopez-Lopez said she didn’t know where Aranza was, but prosecutors said that the defendant was helping them locate her and that her daughter was safe with family members, The Columbian reported.

“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, according to KIRO. “Our concern now will be supporting Aranza as she begins her reintegration into the U.S.”