Summary
In October 1999, twenty-three-month-old Andrea Michelle Reyes was abducted by Rosa Tenorio, Andrea’s non-custodial parent. The incident took place in New Haven, Connecticut where an investigation was launched. It was learned that Andrea was taken to Mexico by her mother, where she has lived for the past 25 years in Puebla, a city of more than 1.5 million people located southeast of Mexico City.
In 1999, a felony warrant for Custodial Interference was issued for Rosa Tenorio (pictured below) in the case of Andrea’s abduction. Over the years, Andrea’s father searched tirelessly, but never heard from his daughter or her mother. The New Haven Police Department investigated Andrea’s kidnapping along with other agencies. Several age-progressed images of the girl were created over the years illustrating what she might have looked like at various ages. Details of Andrea's missing person case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as MP3324.
Searches for Andrea took individuals to Mexico to her reported location, but her whereabouts remained a mystery. The New Haven Police Department began to reinvestigate the open case in 2023, which resulted in Andrea making contact with the man she believed to be her father. In an effort to confirm the woman’s identity, the New Haven Police Department teamed with Othram to evaluate the potential familial relationship. 
The woman provided a DNA sample, which was compared to Andrea’s father’s DNA profile using KinSNP® Rapid Relationship Testing. This comparison supported a father/daughter relationship, confirming that the woman who reached out is, in fact, the nearly two-year-old girl kidnapped in October of 1999. Andrea Reyes, who is now 27 years old, resides in Mexico.
This case is part of Othram's Project 525 initiative. Project 525, launched on May 23, 2024, in collaboration with RTI, which manages the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), aims to bring resolution to five hundred twenty-five juvenile cases published in NamUs.
The identification of kidnapping victim Andrea Reyes marks the seventh case in Connecticut where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. To read about other cases in Connecticut, visit DNASolves.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.