Officials in southern Mexico say they have arrested a 23-year-old woman whose abduction of a 2-year-old boy set off a hunt that helped rescue other stolen children.
Chiapas state prosecutor Jorge Luis Llaven Abarca said Friday that investigators located the woman and young Dylan Esaú in the town of Cintalapa, two hours west of San Cristobal de las Casas, from where he was kidnapped on June 30.
He said the woman told investigators she’d been unable to have a child. She’s accused of paying two other children to lure Dylan away from his mother while she worked at a market.
San Cristobal de las Casas city councilman Emiliano Villatoro initially confirmed the recovery of Dylan via Twitter on Friday.
“The Chiapas Attorney General’s Office found the boy Dylan Esau and he is already with his mother, who did not rest a single day until she got him back,” Villatoro said.
The search for him led investigators to break up a child trafficking ring and recover 23 children, but not Dylan.
Investigators said at the time that the children, who ranged in age from 3 months to 15 years old, were abducted from their families and forced to sell trinkets in the streets of the picturesque colonial city and housed in poor conditions.
