Andrea Michelle Reyes was 23 months old when her mother, Rosa Tenorio, allegedly kidnapped her from her New Haven, Connecticut home.
The toddler was in her father’s custody when she was abducted on October 5, 1999, and Tenorio was suspected of taking her to Mexico, according to a press release from the New Haven Department of Police Service. Tenorio now faces a felony arrest warrant.
Reyes’ father traveled to Mexico several times in search of the child, but his attempts were never successful, and he never heard from Reyes or her mother. The search continued, and organizations such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shared photos of Reyes as she grew older.
Reyes, now 27 years old, was discovered after a Connecticut detective reopened the cold case abduction investigation in 2023. Social media posts, interviews, and search warrants helped New Haven Detective Kealyn Nivakoff locate Reyes in Puebla, southeast of Mexico City.
Nivakoff contacted Reyes directly and confirmed her identity with the assistance of Othram, a Texas DNA testing company. The company used DNA to confirm Reyes’ relationship with her father, allowing the two to reconnect after 25 years.
In a statement, Othram stated that this is just one of the cases being investigated as part of its Project 525 initiative, in which it has collaborated with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to try to resolve the 525 missing juvenile cases listed in its database.
“No cold case is ever truly closed, even if all investigative leads have been exhausted. “We remain committed to resolving every cold case, and this is an excellent example of that effort,” Chief Karl Jacobson says in a New Haven police release.
Tenorio is believed to be still living in Mexico. Her arrest warrant remains active, but it is only valid in the United States.
