A missing Utah teen and her two cousins have been found safe, nearly two weeks after they disappeared in Mexico, the FBI said in a statement to ABC News.
Elizabeth Gonzalez, 14, and her two cousins, Sofia Mailen Moreno Zamora, 6, and Regina Moreno Zamora, 4, disappeared on June 30, while Gonzalez was in Mexico City visiting family, authorities said.
Mexican authorities found the three girls in Veracruz, Mexico, shortly after the FBI identified 31-year-old Antonio Moreno — the biological father of Gonzalez’s two young cousins — as a suspect in their disappearance, the agency said. Moreno allegedly took the three girls without their mothers’ permission.
Moreno was captured in Veracruz along with the girls, according to the FBI.
Surveillance footage allegedly shows Gonzalez and her cousins, who are Mexican nationals, getting into a taxi with Moreno. The FBI believes Gonzalez was allegedly “manipulated” by Moreno to get into the taxi.
Elizabeth “Ely” Gonzalez, 14, is seen in an undated photo provided by the FBI.
FBI
All four were believed to be traveling together.
An Amber Alert was activated for the three girls on July 1, according to Mexican authorities.
The FBI has issued a federal arrest warrant for Moreno on charges related to Gonzalez’s disappearance, including kidnapping. The U.S. will seek the extradition of Moreno, according to the FBI.
Moreno had been living in Kaysville, Utah, for the last three years, before he abruptly traveled to Mexico and allegedly took the three girls.
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