A Texan woman is accused of kidnapping the baby of a Latina migrant who had just crossed the border to demand $8,000

By Minyvonne

A woman was arrested in September in Texas after a Honduran migrant, who had just crossed the border illegally, accused her of kidnapping her baby for five months and demanding a ransom to free him, according to court documents.

The FBI was alerted on September 26 by the St. Petersburg Police Department in Florida, where the Honduran lived when she filed her complaint.

The migrant, whose identity has not been revealed, explained to police that, after crossing the border in Texas, a man and a woman (who was identified as Jenna Leigh Roark) approached an El Paso apartment complex looking for directions to get to the bus station.

The man and woman offered to take her to the station, and during the drive, Roark offered to take care of her son.

The two exchanged phone numbers, according to court documents.

A group of Cuban immigrants on September 27 in Yuma, Arizona.

John Moore/Getty Images

Roark periodically sent photos and videos of the child to the migrant, and mother and son spoke on the phone two or three times a week,” according to the complaint.

But Roark later told her he had to pay $8,000 to get it back, according to the complaint, which adds that he later lowered the price to $5,800.

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Roark was taken into custody Sept. 16, before the FBI began its investigation, by the Texas Department of Public Safety in connection with an unrelated incident: She picked up three undocumented migrants at a motel, according to the complaint.

In the front seat of the car in which he was traveling was his 15-year-old daughter, who was holding in her arms a baby supposedly named Aiden Smith and born on May 19, 2020, according to The New York Post.

Roark said the child's biological mother was his oldest daughter.

But when she was questioned, he pointed out that he was the son of her partner, and provided a different date of birth, arousing suspicion from the authorities, who placed the minor in the care of Texas Child Protective Services.

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The FBI contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety about the Honduran migrant's complaint, who was shown photographs of a child that fit the description and the circumstances in which he had been separated from his mother.

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The migrant confirmed that it was her son.

Roark, for her part, told the police that she allegedly "her husband had problems with the Juarez mafia known as La Empresa" and that she should take care of him until the Honduran woman paid, according to the complaint.