"She must be really scared": Vancouver neighbors are victims of the kidnapping of 4-year-old Aranza



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VANCOUVER, Washington – Vancouver neighbors are shedding light on the alleged kidnapping of 4-year-old Aranza Ochoa Lopez, who was reportedly kidnapped by her mother on Thursday.

The mother, 21-year-old Esmeralda Lopez Lopez, is also a person of interest in a so-called robbery and hostage taking that took place hours before her death with her daughter.

An Amber Alert was issued in California on Saturday. Local authorities said they thought Lopez-Lopez was trying to reach Mexico with his daughter. According to Amber Alert, she was last seen driving a 2005 red Chevrolet Cobalt with the registration plate Washington No. BLK 1552. A teenager, who was also seen with Lopez-Lopez in the center commercial, could also be in the car, according to Vancouver Police.

On Thursday afternoon, Aranza was on court-supervised visit with Lopez-Lopez at the Vancouver Mall. During a movie at the mall theater, she allegedly took the girl to the bathroom and never came back.

A few hours earlier, investigators claimed to believe that Lopez-Lopez was at the Redwood Acres apartment complex, located at 3409 Northeast 62nd Avenue in Vancouver, helping three men steal a third man and hold him against his will. .

The victim, 23-year-old Jose Orellana-Gomez, told the police that he had gone to the Lopez-Lopez apartment because she had asked him to do so. take to Centralia. When he arrived, three strangers caught him, tied him to a chair, told him that they were stealing his car and required the PIN code for his credit card.

On Sunday, Vancouver police arrested a suspect, Erick Garcia-Valdovinos, 18, under two counts of first-degree abduction and first-degree theft for his involvement in the incident.

Shyla Smith lives in Redwood Acres and has shot a cell phone video of the police and SERT teams responding to the incident.

VIDEO: Police images and SERT response by a neighbor

Smith told KGW that the robbery took place in a unit upstairs, which has since been empty. She said she recently realized that the smiling girl on the news could be with the people behind this scary scene.

"She must be really scared," Smith said.

Melissa Vodka, another neighbor of the apartment complex, said that she had begun to connect the dots when she had seen reports on the alleged kidnapping.

"When I saw the pictures, I thought I had seen them at the pool during the summer," said Vodka, referring to the mother and the child. "It made me very sad. You never know what people are capable of.

Police did not fire the Amber alert for nearly two days after the abduction. They explained that the delay was due to the fact that they did not know which car was driven by Lopez and that they did not have a license plate number. These two conditions are essential for issuing an Amber alert.

Esmeralda is 5 feet 0 feet tall, has black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a red and white striped football shirt during her last visit, police said.

According to the police, Aranza was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with a bulldog on the front, pink pants and "Paw Patrol" shoes, last seen.

Anyone who sees Esmeralda or Aranza is advised not to approach the suspect and call 911.

Click here for a link to the Amber Alert

© 2018 KGW

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