After being missing for more than 20 months, a young New Mexico boy that police suspect was abducted by his father has now been found safe.
The boy, Osiel Rico, was 3 when he went missing in January 2020, KRQE reported. To mark the finding of the boy, on Tuesday the New Mexico State Police ended the Amber Alert that had been issued in the case.
According to police, investigators believe that his father, Jorge Rico-Ruvira abducted the boy after he killed his son's mother, Isela Mauricio-Sanchez. As of now, there are no details as to how the boy was found or whether his father was found along with him, but the FBI does still have Rico-Ruvira on its most wanted website, providing an indicator that the father has not been found. Investigators have speculated that he may have fled to Mexico.
Osiel Rico at the time of his disappearance
Not taken was Isela's 8-year-old daughter, who found her mother. When police arrived, Rico-Ruvira and the boy were gone along with all of their clothing. Rico-Ruvira had been previously arrested in October 2019 for trying to strangle Mauricio-Sanchez after accusing her of cheating on him, KRQE reported at the time of the boy's disappearance. Rico-Ruvira was taken into custody by ICE at that time, but was released later on.
After the murder, Rico-Ruvira took more than $1,000 out of the bank and has been missing since then.