Who kidnapped Amarianna Benavidez? Suspects arrested in kidnapping of missing San Antonio girl 

On Monday, June 19, San Antonio authorities released an amber alert for Amarianna Benavidez, a 7-year-old girl who was reportedly kidnapped. She was last seen on the West Side of the city, near the 5800 block of Northwest Loop 4100. On Tuesday, June 20, Benavidez was recovered safely, and two women were arrested in the wake of the kidnapping.

Authorities did not did not discuss the circumstances of Amarianna Benavidez' rescue.

Trigger warning: This article concerns the kidnapping of a minor. Readers' discretion is advised.

The women suspected in the kidnapping of Amarianna Benavidez have been identified as Nya O’Donnell, 21, and Nickie Garcia, 34, as reported by KSAT. Authoritis have not released a potential motive behind the abduction. However, they confirmed that the two suspects were acquainted with their 7-year-old victim.

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The timeline of the search for Amarianna Benavidez

Before her disappearance, Amarianna Benavidez was last spotted at around 1 pm on Monday. In the police report, her family stated that at the time of the disappearance, she was wearing a pink shirt, purple shorts and no shoes.

The 7-year-old was described as being 70-pounds, 4 foot 3 inches, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a scar on her upper lip.

While Benavidez has been found in good health, showing no signs of abuse, the SAPD Special Victims Unit is still trying to determine O'Donnel and Garcia's motives for kidnapping the child. The Benavidez family has not yet commented on the details of the investigation.

The Amber alert for Benavidez has officially been discontinued. Authorities mentioned that they are still in the early stages of the investigation, and that any leads from the public will be appreciated.

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Missing minors in San Antonio

According to William McManus, the San Antonio Police Department has been relatively successful in dealing with missing persons cases:

"The San Antonio Police Department has approximately 1,400 entered missing persons cases and has cleared approximately 1,300 of them. 1,300 out of 1,400 is not a bad record. Still, that leaves a lot more out there that are missing," McManus said.

As per The Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Persons, there were around 47,000 missing persons reports in 2022. KSAT reported that on May 25, authorities conducted a nationwide investigation that led to the recovery of over 160 children.

Tim Anderson, Supervisory Deputy for the U.S. Marshals Service in San Antonio, commented on the initiative:

“The typical age group that we were focusing on was that 12 to 13 up to 17 to 18 years old until they age out of with the state of being a child."

According to Anderson, while many of the children were abducted, others were runaways. However, he added that runaways also become vulnerable to issues such as abduction, drug addiction, or gang activity.