A couple from México state have confessed to handing over 3,000 pesos (US $160) and a gold chain in exchange for an eight-month-old baby that was kidnapped in Mexico City on Sunday.
Four days after she was abducted from the Hospital General Metro station in the Doctores neighborhood, Nancy Tirzo Sánchez was found yesterday in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, a municipality that borders the capital to the east.
The infant, who was unharmed in the ordeal, was reunited with her mother and other family members and is now in their care after leaving police custody early this morning.
Police arrived at an address in Ciudad Lago yesterday after receiving a report from a 59-year-old man that the tenants of a property he owns had a baby girl in their possession who looked very similar to the photo of Nancy that was circulated by police.
Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl police official Jorge Jiménez Vega told a press conference that officers confirmed that to be the case after arresting a couple when they left their home with the baby.
A woman identified as Estela “N” and her partner Antonio “N” told police that they “bought” Nancy from a female friend.
The couple were later transferred to a prosecutor’s office in Mexico City. Before entering the facility, they told reporters that they had actually paid 6,000 pesos for the infant and that they had voluntarily turned themselves in to authorities.
Mexico City prosecutor Maribel Mayer Meade said last night that authorities were investigating to determine whether Estela “N” is the same woman who kidnapped baby Nancy. As of 10:00pm, neither she nor Antonio “N” had been formally interviewed by Mexico City investigators.
It was initially reported that the infant girl disappeared Sunday afternoon from the entrance to the General Hospital of Mexico, where she had been in the care of two of her cousins as her mother visited her sister.
A young woman reportedly offered to look after Nancy while her 15-year-old cousin Emilio and six-year-old cousin Jenni went to the washroom. While they were gone, she allegedly fled with the baby.
However, footage recorded by a security camera in the Hospital General Metro station showed that a woman made off with Nancy while Emiliano was inside a subway station store.
Before entering the store, the 15-year-old is seen speaking to the woman before handing over his baby cousin.
Prosecutor Mayer rejected any suggestion that Emiliano is complicit in the crime, stating that he is assisting authorities as a witness.
Source: El Universal (sp), El Sol de México (sp)
