Three more arrests have been made in the alleged parental abduction of a 1-year-old Miami boy that led to a Florida Amber Alert, authorities said Monday.
Rebeca Rodriguez, 56, Lazara Ortiz, 55, and Juan Pablo Mesa Jr., 33, were all arrested late Sunday, hours after the boy was found safe with his mother, 29-year-old Leydibet Hernandez, in Laredo, Texas, Miami Police said.
Rodriguez and Mesa are both charged with interference with custody and making a false report to police. Ortiz is also charged with interference with custody. It's unknown if they've hired attorneys.
"They intervened in the investigation, they led our detectives down the wrong path, gave us false information and they were ultimately putting this child's safety in danger because we did not know where this child was," said Lt. Freddy Cruz with Miami Police.
Police said Mesa, Hernandez's boyfriend, and Rodriguez, Mesa's mother and the court-appointed guardian of the child, knew Hernandez had taken the boy to Texas but gave officers a false story.
Ortiz bought the bus tickets for Hernandez and the boy to go to Texas, according to an arrest report.
Hernandez and the boy were found Sunday afternoon after the statewide Amber Alert was issued. Hernandez was released from police custody in Texas and was expected to face kidnapping charges in Miami.
Local
"She took her child from Miami to Jacksonville, she boarded a bus and then once she got to Jacksonville, she boarded another bus and went to Texas. Luckily, she was apprehended in Texas before she made it to Mexico, which was her plan," Lt. Cruz explained.
A Florida Department of Children and Families caseworker will fly to Texas and bring the child back to Miami. When the boy returns he'll be placed in a DCF foster care, since there is no family available to care for him now, officials said.
