CA Amber Alert - Amesquita & Barrios Siblings
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AMBER Alert Issued: California - statewide
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Victim 1: Angel Amesquita
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Angel is a 1-year-old Hispanic male with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue and white shirt and blue jeans.
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Victim 2: Julissa Barrios
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Julissa is a 9-year-old Hispanic female with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans.
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Victim 3: Rebecca Barrios
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Rebecca is an 11-year-old Hispanic female with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown shirt and blue jeans.
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Suspect: Damaris Nimet Amesquita
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Damaris Nimet Amesquita is a 30-year-old Hispanic female with black hair and brown eyes. She stands 5′6″ tall and weighs 250 lbs. She was last seen wearing a gray t-shirt and blue jeans. -
Suspect Vehicle
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Green 2000 Land Rover with CA license number 5GKJ367.1
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Circumstances:
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A California Amber Alert was issued this afternoon for 3 siblings who were abducted at gunpoint by their biological parents.
Angel Amesquita, Julissa Barrios, and Rebecca Barrios were having a supervised visit at a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot in Carson, California, with their biological parents and their foster parents when the abduction occurred.2It appears there was good reason for the supervised visitation. Now, they can most likely kiss their parental rights good-bye. What a shame.
It is not known in which direction the vehicle was driven. If you see the vehicle in question call the
Highway Patrol or9-1-1. Do not attempt to approach because they are armed.
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February 14, 2008
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The Amber Alert was canceled early this morning according to several news outlets and on-camera quotes from law enforcement officials. The reason for the cancellation is it has been determined the children were not abducted at gunpoint and law enforcement does not believe the children are in imminent danger.
The children were placed in foster care less than 3 weeks ago because of some sort of threat made against them. Also, the parents are involved in some sort of fraud case.
Wouldn’t the children still be in some sort of danger? Isn’t that why they were removed from their parents’ custody?
There is something that is not right or does not ring true about this abduction story. Some news accounts, as well as the NCMEC report the abduction occurring at approximately 1 p.m. on February 13th. Other news accounts report the abduction occurring at approximately 2:45 p.m.
Some news accounts state the visit with the parents was a scheduled, monitored visit. However, during an on-camera interview with one of the police officer he stated the foster parent phoned the biological mother to tell her that the youngest child was running a fever. The biological mother indicated she wanted to see her child and the foster parent agreed to meet the mother at the McDonald’s parking lot location so she could see the child before he was taken to the doctor. Apparently that is when the father began pulling the children out of the foster parent’s car and placing them in their car.
So, when did this abduction really take place? Did the foster mother just decide to give the children to the biological parents and delay the call to report the abduction to give them time to get away? Law enforcement has admitted the parents had by the time the alert was issued several hours head start. In the words of one officer - “they could be anywhere”.
The local television news opened their 5 p.m. news cast with the Amber Alert.
Photographs of the children and the female abductor were not broadcast until 9 or 11 p.m. newscasts.
The NCMEC has not yet issued a missing poster for these children and do not yet have photos posted on their Amber Alert notification. Oh yes, as of this writing, almost 1 p.m. the NCMEC has not canceled the Amber Alert on their site.
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10:30 p.m. PST
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The NCMEC has pulled the Amber Alert from their site.
The local South Bay area newspaper, The Daily Breeze, is reporting that police are still pursuing the investigation into the alleged kidnapping. Investigators stated that there has been significant changes to the original kidnapping story.3
- There was no silver, small caliber handgun used in the alleged kidnapping.
- The biological mother’s husband was not involved in the abduction.
- It is not clear at this point if the vehicle reportedly involved in the abduction is correct.
I questioned when this abduction took place and if the foster mother was an accomplice and not a victim. I hope these children are found safe. I am not getting a good feeling about this abduction.
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November 8, 2008
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Damaris Amesquita was located and taken into custody in Mexicali, Mexico by US Marshal’s and bail bondsmen. According to the bonding agent it is believed Damaris Amesquita had been living with various family members since taking her three children at gun point during a supervised visit at a McDonald’s restaurant in Carson. Strangely enough the arrest took place at a McDonald’s restaurant in Mexicali, Mexico. The three children are in the custody of Child Protective Services and Damaris will be arraigned on kidnapping charges on Monday. Damaris is a native of Guatemala and she is married to a resident of Tijuana who has been cleared of all charges.4
Sources:
- NCMEC Amber Alert Page, February 13, 2008, http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/AmberServlet. [↩]
- ’Amber Alert Issued for 3 Children Taken at Gunpoint,’ KNBC.com, February 13, 2008, http://www.knbc.com/news/15296085/detail.html?dl=headlineclick. [↩]
- ’Amber Alert called off as search goes on for 3 children abducted in Carson,’ The Daily Breeze.com, February 14, 2008 [↩]
- Mother Accused of Kidnapping Arrested in Mexico, KCAL.com, November 8, 2008. [↩]
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