By Marlene Lenthang -
NBC News
An 8-year-old girl from Washington state, who was last seen in October 2018, was recently located in Mexico and returned to the United States last month, the FBI reported.
Aranza María Ochoa López was kidnapped by her biological mother on October 25, 2018, at a shopping center in Vancouver, Washington, according to the FBI, which offered a $10,000 reward.
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Nearly five years after she went missing, Aranza was found in Michoacán, the FBI office in Seattle said at a news conference Wednesday.
The minor was returned to the US in February.
"Special agents escorted her back to the US. Aranza's security and privacy is of absolute importance," stressed the FBI, which has not revealed her location or other details of the case.
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“For more than four years, we didn't give up on the Aranza case,” explained Richard A. Collodi, special agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle office.
“Our concern now will be to support Aranza as he reintegrates [in his life] in the US,” he added.
After the minor was kidnapped, investigators determined that the girl had been taken to Mexico.
Her biological mother was arrested in Puebla, Mexico, in September 2019, but the girl was not located.
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At the time of the kidnapping, the girl was in the care of social services, after accusations that her mother, Esmeralda López López, abused her, The
Columbian
newspaper reported .
Lopez pleaded guilty to kidnapping, robbery and custodial interference in Clark County court in January 2021. She was sentenced to 20 months in prison, according to court records.