What happened to Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez? Girl missing since 2018 found in Mexico and returned to the U.S.

8-year-old Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was abducted in 2018 by her biological mother at a shopping mall in Vancouver, Washington. FBI special agents found the girl in Mexico and escorted her back to the US.

The FBI had initially announced a reward for any leads regarding Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez’s whereabouts. Lopez was only 4 years old when her mother kidnapped her from the shopping mall. Authorities have identified her mother as Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez.

The location where authorities shifted Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez has been kept confidential. Several investigating agencies apart from the FBI have been involved in looking for Aranza over the past four years.

---

Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was abducted by her biological mother back in 2018 from a shopping mall

Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, 8, was kidnapped on October 25, 2018, at a mall in Washington, D.C. Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez, her biological mother, who does not have custody of her, was revealed to be the kidnapper.

Later in September 2019, Esmeralda was arrested in Puebla, Mexico. It is unclear where Aranza was at the time. According to Richard A. Collodi, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office:

“For more than four years, the FBI and our partners did not give up on Aranza. Our concern now will be to support Aranza as she begins her reintegration into the US.”

Before being returned to the U.S., authorities located Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez in Michoacán, Mexico. When she was abducted in 2018, the FBI published a billboard listing her as a missing person and later learned that she had been taken to Mexico. A $10,000 prize was also established for any tips or leads in the case.

Several law enforcement agencies were involved in the search for the missing girl. This included the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico City, the Vancouver Police Department, Washington State’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families, the Fiscalia General del Estado de Michoacán, and the Instituto Nacional de Migración.

---

Aranza’s mother, Esmeralda, was on the run in Mexico until she was arrested in 2019

A supervised visit was conducted on the same day that Aranza was kidnapped, soon after her mother asked if she could take the 8-year-old to the mall’s restroom. Shortly after that, Esmeralda fled the mall along with Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez in a stolen vehicle, and also had an accomplice.

The then 4-year-old was in the state’s custody while her mother abducted her. After complaints of physical abuse by Esmeralda, Aranza was placed in foster care in 2017. Officials discovered the little girl to have multiple bruises and that her mother had a history of violence. She was also given twice-weekly supervised visits, according to the authorities. Esmeralda ran through Mexico up until 2019.

Considering her safety concerns, authorities have not released additional information regarding the case. After Esmeralda’s arrest in 2019, she was extradited to Clark County. In January 2021, she received a sentence of 20 months in jail. Esmeralda is said to have testified that she was unaware of Aranza's whereabouts. Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez’s mother pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, and first-degree custodial interference.