A Florida woman who was allegedly kidnapped at 6-years-old has been reunited with her mother.
According to the BBC, Jacqueline Hernandez’s father, Pablo Hernandez, abducted the girl on Dec. 22, 2007 at her home. Hernandez’s mother, Angelica Vences-Salgado, reported the child missing shortly after, and a warrant for kidnapping was issued just five days later. Authorities suspected the father and daughter had traveled to Mexico, but the case had gone cold.
Fast-forward to Sept. 2, 2021, when Vences-Salgado received a Facebook message from a 19-year-old woman claiming to be her long-lost daughter. She told Vences-Salgado that she was living in Mexico, and wanted to meet her at the U.S.-Texas border.
The mother immediately informed police about the communication, and various law enforcement agencies—including the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange, Homeland Security Investigations, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement—worked to verify Hernandez’s identity.
They were reunited on Sept. 10, after authorities “intercepted” Hernandez at a point-of-entry.
“This is a prime example of what can be accomplished when multiple law enforcement agencies and their respective communities work cooperatively together and maintain open lines of communication,” Clermont Police Chief Charles Broadway said in a statement. “In this case, several agencies in different counties and states across the nation were able to create a force multiplier and aid in reuniting the victim with her mother after 14 years.”
It’s unclear why Hernandez chose to reach out to her mother after all these years and what her life has been like throughout that time. Authorities also say there is an active warrant for Pablo Hernandez’s arrest, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
