Where are the Valseca kids now? Whereabouts explored ahead of Dateline NBC's new episode

The Valseca family's incredible story will once again be chronicled on NBC Dateline's true-crime episode this week.

Titled The Ranch, the episode follows Eduardo, the patriarch, who was kidnapped in June 2007, and how his wife Jayne did everything she could to ensure his safe return. She took care of their three children, Fernando, Nayah, and Emiliano, for more than half a year.

Here's the official synopsis of the Dateline episode that will premiere on NBC this Friday at 9/8c:

"Three siblings' lives change when their father is taken hostage in an orchestrated abduction. For the first time, they open up to Keith Morrison about their ordeal and its stunning conclusion."

On the show, the kids will talk about their experiences, including what they went through and their mother's resilience throughout that time. Let's go through all the current details regarding the Valseca kids, shall we?

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Exploring the present whereabouts of the Valseca kids

The Valseca family lived on a ranch in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for almost 15 years when the tragic incident occurred. Fernando was twelve years old, Emiliano was seven, and Nayah was six when tragedy struck the entire family.

On the morning of June 13, 2007, the family set out to drop the kids off at the school they had founded. On most days, Fernando would lead the way on a four-wheeler or their pet donkey, with the rest following in a car and singing along.

However, their lives were permanently changed when Eduardo was kidnapped while returning home, leaving Jayne behind. When Jayne returned to her children, she struggled to explain how their father had been kidnapped for a considerable sum of money.

Fernando Valseca remembers the incident as he revealed in the episode:

“I had never seen my mom like that. She was just–she looked like if the worst thing [had] happened to her. I asked her, ‘Was it by criminals, or what do you mean taken?’ And she said, ‘He was kidnapped.’ And that’s all she said. And I just stood quiet. I couldn’t believe it.”

Fernando Valseca (Image via NBC)

Jayne negotiated with the kidnappers while the family battled to accept their new circumstances. According to Jayne, the kids had a difficult time nearing the end.

In the episode, she said:

“The little kids would go up to my children and say things like, ‘Oh, I heard your daddy’s dead, that they found him in a–in a plastic bag in the Park de Juarez (Mexico).'”

Eduardo returned just a day after Fernando's twelfth birthday, following a wait of more than seven months. When his father returned, Fernando remembered seeing him and barely being able to recognize him anymore.

He said:

“I just ran and gave him a hug, and he didn’t have any meat on him at all. It was just like if I was grabbing his carcass.”

In the end, the family relocated to Maryland in the United States. Their mother died of breast cancer in 2012, which was a difficult period for the family.

However, the things Jayne left for them helped them remember her fondly, which included teddy bears with her audio message to the three children, as well as graduation cards for when they graduated from high school and college.

Nayah Valseca (Image via NBC)

Nayah remembers sleeping with that teddy for the longest time. She revealed in the episode that her mother was a hero and that she aspired to be like her one day.

Fernando appears to be living in Colorado these days, but he enjoys traveling to new cities and countries.

He now works as a Crew Lead for a solar company. Nayah appears to be spending time in both Maryland and Colorado. Nayah, like her brother, is an ardent traveler who has visited numerous locations both inside and outside the country.

Don't forget to watch the incredible story of the Valseca family on NBC Dateline this Friday, May 27, 2022, at 9/8c.