Woman’s DNA confirms she was the victim of a kidnapping in 1999

NEW HAVEN, CT (WFSB) - A woman living in Mexico was identified as a kidnapping victim from Connecticut, DNA evidence confirmed.

Andrea Michelle Reyes, now 27, was abducted from her father’s care in New Haven when she was 23 months old.

The New Haven Police Department and Reyes' father had a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

“It was a moment of joy,” said Carlos Reyes, Michelle Reyes’ father. “Detective Nivakoff has been an angel to us.”

“After 25 years, God has answered our prayers and blessed us with a chance to know her again,” said Lucille Reyes, Carlos’ wife.

Police announced the development on March 4 in coordination with Othram, a forensic laboratory in Texas.

Othram said it specializes in using cutting-edge forensic genomic techniques to find answers for unsolved murders, disappearances, and recovered human remains.

“Whether it is unidentified human remains, the identity of a suspect in a crime or, like in this case, confirming the identity of a woman who has been missing for decades, we do the same thing every day - we find answers for families,” said Kristen Mittelman, chief development officer for Othram. “This case was part of our Project 525, an initiative launched last year to get to the truth for families and give certainty to law enforcement in their pursuit of justice.”

Police said that in Oct. 1999, Michelle Reyes was abducted from her home by Rosa Tenorio, her non-custodial parent.

She was taken to the city of Puebla, Mexico where the pair lived for the past 25 years.

After the abduction, New Haven police said they launched an investigation and a felony warrant for custodial interference was issued for Tenorio.

Over the years, Carlos and Lucille made multiple trips to Mexico looking for his daughter. Unfortunately, they had no luck.

The New Haven Police Department investigated Reyes’ kidnapping along with other agencies.

Several age-progressed images of Michelle were created through the years illustrating what she might have looked like at various ages.

Details of Michelle Reyes’ missing person case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

In 2023, New Haven Police Detective Kealyn Nivakoff, a member of the special victims unit, picked up the cold case.

“That would include search warrants, social media, statements, and ultimately the cherry on top, Othram facilitating DNA testing, which confirmed who Andrea was,” Nivakoff said.

In an effort to confirm her identity, investigators teamed with Othram to evaluate the potential familial relationship.

A woman provided a DNA sample, which was compared to Michelle Reyes’ father’s DNA profile which supported a father/daughter relationship. Othram said it confirmed that the woman who reached out was, in fact, the girl who was kidnapped in 1999.

Michelle Reyes continues to live in Mexico, Othram said.

“For us as a police department, this might be closure on our end, it’s certainly not closure on their part. It’s really just the beginning of the whole healing process for them,” said Nivakoff.

Carlos says he has had one phone conversation with his daughter, along with communicating with her through messenger.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is working to facilitate and fund a reunion.

“We have some sense of happiness, but the chapter is not closed yet, there is a lot of steps we have to take,” Carlos said.

New Haven Police say their arrest warrant for Rosa Tenorio for custodial interference is still active, but its only valid in the US.

They believe she is still living in Mexico.

Police add because Rosa is Andrea’s birth mother Mexico said it would not extradite her.

More about the case can be read here.