VANCOUVER, Washington– An 8-year-old girl who was reported missing from Washington in 2018 has been located in Mexico.
The FBI reported that Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was found by Mexican authorities in Michoacán, Mexico, and has since been relocated to the U.S.
Lopez was reportedly kidnapped by her mother, Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez, on Oct. 25, 2018, during a supervised visit at the Vancouver Mall.
Lopez-Lopez was arrested in Puebla, Mexico, in 2019 and extradited back to Clark County to face charges of second-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, and first-degree custodial interference.
She was then sentenced to 20 months in prison in Jan. of 2021.
Despite the arrest of Lopez-Lopez, it took a few more years for authorities to locate the child:
“For more than four years, the FBI and our partners did not give up on Aranza,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “Our concern now will be supporting Aranza as she begins her reintegration into the U.S.”