Mom: Missing child is in Mexico

The mother of a child who was reported missing in Yuma in December has come forward to confirm the child is with her in Mexico.

Chrystal Abren Lopez also defended her 18-year-old son, who is facing charges here in the Damaris Herrera Lopez disappearance.

Damaris Lopez, 10, was reported missing on Dec. 10. According to reports to the Yuma police, the child ran away when the mother was returning her to the father, Reynado Gomez Herrera, who has permanent custody of the child after their divorce.

During the next few weeks, fliers with the child's picture were placed throughout the area to help find her. It was later reported the child was believed to have been taken to Mexico to be with her mother.

"I want everyone to know Damaris is not lost, she is safe with me in Mexico," said the mother during an interview in her lawyer's office in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son.

"We are protected by the laws in Mexico, we have an 'amparo' (legal protection) and I have custody of my daughter given to me by a judge because her father is facing charges of sexual abuse in Mexico and felony charges in the United States."

Officer Clint Norred, spokesman for the Yuma Police Department, said he is not aware of any charges of sexual abuse against Herrera in Mexico, nor does he have any charges against him, of any kind, here in Arizona.

Lopez claims her son, Richard Alvarez of Yuma, is being held in the Yuma County jail "until I return her to her dad and that will never happen because he is abusing her."

During their marriage, Lopez said that she filed several complaints of domestic violence against Herrera.

On two occasions, Lopez said, she was given an order of protection to keep him from coming near her, and she even had to live in a shelter in Yuma. She said Herrera obtained custody of their daughter because of the people he knew in the justice system.

Norred confirmed that Lopez had filed two complaints against her former husband regarding the alleged domestic violence, but no charges were ever filed in either one.

The first report was filed in June 2005, Norred said. In that incident, a report was referred to the city of Yuma prosecutor's office, but it was dismissed due to conflicting statements.

A second report was filed and also referred to the city prosecutor, in March 2006, but it was later dismissed after being determined to be unfounded.

Furthermore, Norred said Lopez has three active warrants out for her arrest. The first warrant was issued in Yuma County Superior Court after Lopez failed to appear for a custody hearing after her daughter's disappearance. That warrant, which is a civil warrant, also has a $100,000 cash-only bond.

The second warrant, which stems from the kidnapping case, is a felony warrant for fraudulent schemes and artifices, custodial interference per domestic violence and kidnapping per domestic violence. The warrant was issued out of Yuma Justice Court.

A federal warrant has also been issued for Lopez's arrest. This warrant, issued by the U.S. District Court, also stems from the kidnapping case and Lopez fleeing Arizona into Mexico to avoid prosecution.

Herrera said he is not worried about the mother's accusations against him and is relieved to hear Damaris is OK.

"The problem now is to get her back to the United States, in her school, with her friends, with her life so she can be the happy little girl she used to be," said Herrera.

In response to the complaint filed in Mexico by Lopez, claiming corruption of a minor, Herrera said, "I am not worried about what she has to say. For years she has tried to win custody of our daughter. I have had custody for many years, this is nothing new to me."

He also denied any wrongdoing and said, "The proof is the judge gave me custody."

Norred added that Lopez and Alvarez are suspected of planting drugs at Herrera's residence on two separate occasions, once in December 2007 and another time in August 2008 in an attempt to get him arrested.

Herrera vowed to continue his battle to get Damaris back.

Alvarez was arrested in San Luis, Ariz., in late December and charged with custodial interference and fraud. The complaint alleges Alvarez was waiting for the child when she ran away Dec. 10, then picked her up and drove her to Mexico to be with her mother.

The mother denies this charge. Lopez said it was not until Dec. 11 that she knew where Damaris was because she showed up at her house, begging not to be returned to her to father.

Damaris, with her mother's permission, described what happened the day she disappeared during the interview in San Luis Rio Colorado lawyer's office:

"When I saw my father, I opened the door and said to him that 'I would rather die than to go with you,' and I ran away. He came out of the car and began to chase me.

"He tried to catch me, then he hugged me and I was hitting, pushing and scratching him. My mom got down from the car and tried to calm me down, she said to me, 'Everything will be OK.'

"My dad pushed my mom and they began to argue; at that moment I ran away and hid in a storage building next to a trailer. I fell asleep there and the next day I went (to) my mom and I explained to her why I had left ...

"I told her why and then she gave me something to eat, I changed my clothes and we left. I was happy because I did not have to go back to my dad."

In response to the claim that his daughter does not want to return to him, Herrera said, "It is not the child. It is not my daughter saying this. It is her mother who has manipulated her as she has done with her son, Richard."

Lopez said Damaris told her that her father hit her and sexually abused her, a confession that the child repeated in detail to the judge in Mexico who gave Lopez a temporary injunction.

Lopez said the prosecutor's office began a legal process in Mexico against the father. The Sonora state prosecutor confirmed for The Sun on Thursday that it has launched an investigation into the allegations against Herrera but declined further comment.

"I took my daughter, left everything behind, home, work, money and came to Mexico with her," Lopez said as she cried. "How could I give her back to her dad, after hearing what she had confessed."

She added that fear prompted her to keep quiet about her reunion with her daughter and she decided to flee to Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco in Mexico.

After she learned that her son had been detained, she returned to San Luis. According to Lopez, her son was unjustly detained because he never knew about the reunion with her daughter.

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