Off The Record

A Toddler Who Went Missing Almost 25 Years Ago Was Shockingly Found Alive

Published on March 8, 2025

Although children always appear in the most unlikely places, the father of a missing woman may have given up on ever seeing her again after she was abducted almost 30 years ago.

Andrea Michelle Reyes has been found alive and well in Mexico 26 years after being abducted from her home in New Haven, Connecticut, in October 1999 when she was less than two years old.

After Abdul Aziz Khan was found 1,500 miles from his home at the age of 14, seven years after his divorced mother had taken him, this week has been good for recovering missing children.

It has taken much longer to solve Andrea’s case, and contemporary technology has been crucial in identifying the now 27-year-old woman.

It was believed that Rosa Tenorio, her mother, who did not have primary custody of her, had taken her to Mexico at the time of her kidnapping.

Unfortunately, Andrea was never found, even after her father and other family members conducted frantic searches.

That is, until New Haven police recently decided to revive the cold case, attempting to forecast her appearance using a number of age-progressed FBI photos taken over the previous 26 years.

This technology obviously worked in this instance, even if it can never be fully trusted because Andrea might have shaved her head and gone for a full facial tattoo instead.

Andrea has now been located after putting her name forward, thanks to the strength of social media, search warrants, and previous interviews.

In order to prove that the woman who contacted her is, in fact, the infant who was abducted almost thirty years ago, she consented to produce a DNA sample, which verified a father-daughter link.

This may not be the most bizarre way to find lost children, though, since one little boy recently saw himself on a Channel 5 TV show and spoke out after viewing the appeal.

Since she cut off all communication with her father for the majority of her childhood, Andrea’s connection with her mother may not be entirely stable, but it is currently unknown that she lives in Mexico.

New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said: “While cases may have investigative leads exhausted at the time, no cold case is ever truly closed. We remain committed to resolving every cold case and this is a perfect example of that effort.”

The fact that the two can now properly get to know one another after being reunited is proof positive that you should never give up hope.