A boy who vanished three years ago has been found safe, ending a long-running missing person case that left his loved ones and community members desperate for answers.
Andrew Escobar was discovered in El Paso, Texas, years after investigators said his mother, Miriam Felix, disappeared with her then-11-year-old son in July 2023.
Since the day Andrew was taken, his father, Juan Escobar, and law enforcement officials had continued pressing forward in the search to bring him home.
Juan told KAOT7 that he and Andrew’s stepmother, Monique Escobar, were so committed to finding him that they left their jobs to devote themselves to the search full-time.
Juan said he was overcome with “shock and disbelief” when an El Paso police officer called him Wednesday to say Miriam had triggered an alert while attempting to cross from Mexico into the United States.
“His mom triggered some sort of warning, and then they checked his ID, and then that’s when they recognized that he was listed as a missing person, and that’s when they detained them both,” Juan explained.
Prior to being located, Andrew had last been seen in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
Albuquerque police said Miriam had multiple felony warrants tied to allegations that she violated a custody agreement.
Juan continued to celebrate big milestones like his son’s birthday, despite not knowing his location for years. “We were best friends,” he told KRQE in January. “We would always do everything together. We loved to make videos together of what we were doing and just joke around a lot. He was always joking around.”
While Juan is thankful to have Andrew back, he disclosed that his son’s mother had traveled to multiple countries while she was on the run that included Albania and Turkey. Even though his son appears to be physically well, Juan said he’s concerned about Andrew’s mental health after everything he’s been through.
“Physically, he’s well, but he’s just been through so much the last three years emotionally and mentally,” Juan said.
Darlene Gomez who has represented the family during their search efforts said that Miriam is currently awaiting extradition back to Mexico. Gomez said that right now there’s a lot of unknowns as the reunited family gets reacquainted after so many lost years.
