MIRACLE

Child Kidnapped From Washington Mall as 4-Year-Old Found in Mexico 4 Years Later

Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, now 8, has been transported back to the U.S., the FBI said.

A girl who was kidnapped from a Washington mall when she was four years old has been found alive in Mexico four years later. Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was kidnapped on October 25, 2018 by her biological mother during a court-supervised visit, authorities had determined. Her mother, who didn’t have custody, was identified as Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez and arrested in 2019 in Puebla, Mexico. The child wasn’t found at the time, but Lopez-Lopez was extradited back to Washington, where she was later sentenced to 20 months in prison. The child, now 8, was found in Michoacán, Mexico, in February, according to the FBI, who said she’s been transported back to the U.S., although the exact location isn’t known.