Was police rescue of baby staged? Official information suggests it was

The discovery and rescue of an 11-month-old baby girl by Federal Police in San Luis Potosí last week was staged, information released by state authorities suggests.

According to the original report, Federal Police officers were on patrol last Wednesday when they heard an infant crying on a vacant lot next to the Río Verde-San Luis Potosí highway.

There they found Mya Fernanda Parra, who had disappeared a week earlier, on a blanket and wearing only a light dress despite the cold.

A video of the supposed rescue shows three officers finding the infant behind a pile of rocks, wrapping her in a blanket, checking her for injuries and placing her in a police vehicle all while Mya continues to cry.

The footage circulated on social media, where its authenticity was first questioned.

“It’s a setup; it looks like they’re acting; bad performance [and] it’s good that they found her but what bad acting” were among the comments made by social media users.

A statement issued yesterday by the San Luis Potosí Attorney General’s office, which includes remarks made by Attorney General Federico Garza Herrera, supports those views.

“We have sufficient evidence to be able to establish that the girl was found by members of the public . . .” Garza said.

News website Mi Rioverde reported that the infant was found by a motorist who parked his car at the side of the road to attend to a call of nature, when he heard Mya crying. After locating the child he handed her over to Federal Police, who then presumably acted out their own “rescue and discovery.”

However, the attorney general stopped short of accusing the Federal Police of staging the video.

“Whether the Federal Police video is a sham or not, he [Garza] said will be determined by the internal organs of that corporation,” the statement said.

“I don’t want to speculate because our obligation is to clarify the facts, arrest those allegedly responsible and place them in front of a judge so that there’s no impunity and that’s what we’re doing,” Garza said.

The statement also said that evidence found at the site where Mya was located could help authorities establish lines of investigation that could lead them to those responsible for the infant’s kidnapping and her grandmother’s death.

Mya disappeared on August 30 while her grandmother was taking her to a daycare center. The woman was found dead later the same day in El Zapote. She had been wounded in the thorax and the abdomen and had bled to death.

The baby girl was taken to hospital after her discovery where she was given a clean bill of health and reunited with her parents.

Source: Milenio (sp)