An incident in Arizona has landed a woman from California behind bars after she purportedly abducted a toddler, mistakenly identifying the child as her “long-lost daughter.”
Marina Noriega, aged 23, faces charges of custodial interference, a situation that triggered an Amber Alert over the weekend, according to reports from KTVK.
Authorities responded to a residence in Avondale after the toddler’s parents reported that a woman known to them only as “Marina” had taken their daughter.
Noriega allegedly informed the family that she had been left in Arizona after traveling from California, with no place to stay as both her father and boyfriend were incarcerated. According to an affidavit, relatives brought her to the family’s home due to her lack of shelter, as reported by Law&Crime, and the family offered her a place to stay overnight.
The parents recounted that Noriega was watching television when they retired for the night, as mentioned by KTVK. They were awakened by the cries of another child before dawn, only to discover that both Noriega and their toddler were missing.
After searching the neighborhood, they contacted 911 for assistance. Police conducted a search and subsequently issued an Amber Alert. Later that morning, they received information that Noriega had been spotted in Maricopa. A tipster revealed that they had driven Noriega and the child from Avondale to Maricopa, where Noriega claimed she intended to catch a train to California.
But Noriega was not on any passenger manifest for a train leaving from Maricopa, and they didn’t see her in the area of the train station.
Police say she and the toddler slept on the street Saturday night and were spotted at a QuikTrip store the next morning in Phoenix.
Kevin Place, working with a moving crew, was one of those who saw her. He said he heard the security guard talking with police and ran back out to his moving truck, where he and his co-workers devised a plan to keep her there. They parked their 30-foot truck to block the vehicle Noriega was in, and moments later, Phoenix police arrived, rescued the toddler, and took Noriega into custody.
Court documents say the girl told her parents when she was returned to them that she was scared and “wanted her mommy and daddy” but was ok.
When she was interviewed by police, Noriega claimed to be the girl’s biological mother. She said the girl was abducted from the hospital in Sacramento where she was born. She said she had come to Arizona to find her own family but “coincidentally” found her own “long-lost” daughter.
But the dates Noriega gave for her supposed daughter’s birth didn’t match the girl se kidnapped, and eventually she admitted the child wasn’t hers. She offered to speak to the family and “apologize for taking their daughter.”
She’s being held on a $250,000 bond. It’s not clear if any other charges are pending.
