A teenager stolen from the hospital where he was born 16 years ago was reunited with his parents in Guadalajara on Thursday.
Salvador Macías López was removed from a Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) hospital in the Jalisco capital just hours after he was born in 2005 by a woman who passed herself off as a nurse.
He was located a few days ago in El Salto, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, and placed in the custody of the state government.
“I have some very good news,” Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro said on Twitter Thursday.
“In 2005 a baby was stolen from the IMSS 45 clinic. In September 2021, the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences did a facial analysis and a portrait of what he might look like today. Search operations were carried out and miraculously we found him,” he wrote.
Así fue la reacción de la mamá de #Chavita, al confirmar la localización de su hijo, tras años de una intensa búsqueda.
Enlace completo 👉 https://t.co/Ea4rPlRFDZ pic.twitter.com/bw9kv1zjZA
— quiero tv (@quierotv_gdl) February 17, 2022
Rosalía López responds to the news that her son’s identity has been confirmed, in an emotional interview with Quiero Noticias.
“A young man with those characteristics was identified days ago, all the genetic tests were performed on him, his mom and his dad, and a few moments ago Chava [the typical nickname for people called Salvador] and his family officially received the news they waited almost 17 years for. They will be together again,” Alfaro said.
The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office (FE) said in a statement that search operations were initiated based on evidence provided by the parents. The results of the genetic tests indicated that it was 99.99% certain that the boy was in fact the son of Yasir Macías and Rosalía López, the FE said.
No details about Salvador’s life in the more than 16 years since he was snatched have been released.
“While the adolescent was found, the investigation to determine what happened will continue,” the FE said.
Salvador was reunited with his parents at child protection offices in Guadalajara.
“He is indeed my son. Thank you, God,” López sobbed in a television interview before the reunion. “I need to go with him, I need to be with him,” she said.
In a voice message sent to reporters after seeing her son for the first time in 16 years, López said, “We’re all very happy, … it’s something that isn’t explained with words.”
With reports from Reforma, El Universal and Informador
