KARLA YROGOYEN-RIVAS - 12 yo - Laredo TX

The Texas
Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert Wednesday evening for
a Laredo girl who was last seen at around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Karla Victoria Yrigoyen-Rivas is 12-years-old.She’s 5-feet tall, weighs about 100 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.
She’s believed to be with Jose Angel Cruz, 28, who also goes by the name Giovanni, the DPS said.
He’s Hispanic, about 5-foot-6, weighs about 200 pounds, is bald and has brown eyes.
He was wearing a blue muscle shirt, blue jeans and yellow work boots.
He has a tattoo of a devil head skull on his right arm and a medusa on his right leg.
The DPS is asking anyone with information to contact the Laredo Police Department at (956) 795-2800.

* * * *

The State of Texas
issued the Amber Alert on Wednesday (09-23) after the girl was
reportedly abducted in Laredo on Tuesday (09-22). The child is
considered to be in grave or immediate danger.


Karla Victoria Yrigoyen-Rivas a 12 year old Hispanic female, 5
feet tall, 100 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen
wearing a white blouse, blue jeans and black sandals


The suspect is Jose Angel Cruz, also known as Giovanni. He is
an Hispanic male, 28 years old, 5' 6", 200 pounds and bald with brown
eyes. He has a tattoo of a devil head skull on his right arm and Medusa
on his right leg. He was last seen wearing a blue muscle shirt, blue
jeans and yellow boots.


There is no suspect vehicle information at this time.


Anyone with information is asked to call the Laredo Police Department at 956-795-2800 or dial 911.

The mother of a 12 year old is speaking out one day after her daughter goes missing.
Sandra Rivas says she may know who's responsible for the girls disappearance.
The amber alert was officially issued around noon today.
A description of a person of interest soon followed.
The mother of a middle school student says it’s been a whirlwind of a day and cant believe what she's dealing with.
“She’s a good student and a good daughter.”
Still in shock, Sandra Rivas tries to find an explanation as to why her 12-year-old daughter has disappeared.
“She couldn’t have left on her own,” she says.
“She was going to the store she left the house and never returned,” says Officer Alberto Escobedo.
Rivas said her youngest daughter was actually the one who woke her up
on Tuesday morning, saying Karla was going to the corner store and
wouldn't take her along.
Police and sheriff's deputies are now investigating but are not calling the case a kidnapping.
“Our juvenile enforcement team is doing the investigation they’re following up on good leads.”
However Rivas says a 28-year-old man who was renting a room at the
residence in the 39-00 block of Barcelona may be responsible.
Police released details of Jose Angel Cruz, also known as Giovanni,
earlier this afternoon hoping to gather more information.
For now the girl’s mother only hopes Karla will return safely.
“No matter what happened” she says, “I need her with me. I feel so bad.
I don’t even know what to think. Why did she leave? I don’t treat her
badly.”
Rivas says the 28 year old has been living at the residence for about two months.
She also says earlier that morning, Karla had refused to go to school
earlier that morning but doesn’t think she would just leave without
permission.
So many questions are still unanswered.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 795-2800 or 727-tips.


Karla Victoria Yrigoyen-Rivas, Hispanic female, 12 years old, date of birth
August 28, 1997. Height 5 feet tall, weight 100 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, white blouse, blue jeans, and black sandals.

Police are looking for Jose Angel Cruz in her abduction. He is
Also known as Giovanni. He is a Hispanic male, 28 years old,
Height 5 feet, six inches, weight 200 pounds, bald, and last seen
Wearing a blue muscle shirt, blue jeans, and yellow boots, devil head skull on right arm and Medusa on right leg.

Law enforcement officials believe this child to be in grave or Immediate danger.

If you have any information regarding this abduction, call the Laredo police department.

There are new developments in the case of a 12 year old who has been missing for a week now.
According to police the mother misidentified the man in a video of the gas station Karla had allegedly visited the
day she went missing..
Now police are releasing a picture of Karla Rivas crossing the border into Nuevo Laredo.
Police say it was urgent to try to find Karla Rivas.
That’s why they asked the mother Sandra Rivas to identify the man from that
surveillance video
And this is the man the mother identified as the person of interest.
But according to police this is not the man who took 12-year-old Karla Rivas.
A picture released from the police department shows
Karla and the new suspect crossing the pedestrian bridge into Mexico.
According to police this man is the one they are looking for.
He has several aliases like Giovanni and Jose Martinez Santillan but
his real name is Israel Blanquel Sotelo and he is a Mexican national.
According to police the picture was taken the same day Karla went missing at 12:50 in the afternoon.
The mother reported Karla missing at four in the afternoon that same day.
Right now Laredo police and the FBI are working with Mexican authorities to locate Karla in Mexico City.
Karla made a phone call to her mother two days ago and told her she was in that area.

After weeks of searching local and federal authorities can rest tonight
as the 12-year-old girl they have been searching for has returned home.

It's a parent's worst nightmare.
You wake up and your child is gone.
Well tonight the Laredo Police Department says Karla Rivas the
12-year-old girl who has been missing for several weeks has returned
home.

Officials say Karla Rivas contacted her mother Sandra, saying she was coming home.
In a coordinated effort investigators and federal authorities met the
girl at the bridge of the Americas this afternoon at around two.
After an extensive investigation and interviews with the girl
authorities say through her own admission Karla Rivas went to Mexico
voluntarily and was never at risk.

Joe Baeza - Laredo Police Dept.
"She was not harmed in any of this an don the surface it appears to be there are no criminal acts in her leaving to Mexico."

Back on September twenty third, 12-year-old Karla Rivas was reported missing by her mother.
A person of interest in the case was identified as Israel Blanquel
Sotelo, a Mexican national who rented a room in Karla's home from her
mother.
Local authorities believed Rivas went with him to Mexico
after a camera at bridge one snapped photographs of the two crossing
bridge one the day she disappeared.
Police say while they have been
searching for her north of the border, she has been living with family
members in Mexico but decided she was ready to return home.

"The case is still open and ongoing as we are reviewing the case to see if any charges will be filed at a later date."

Police also say a forensics test was performed and Karla did not exhibit any signs of abuse.
So she is home safe and sound for now, but as Joe Baeza said the case will remain under investigation.

The Laredo Police Department says they are happy 12-year-old Karla
Rivas is back home safely, but they say they wish they knew the
situation before they exhausted all of their resources looking for her.
Others say parents should take this case as an example to create a
better relationship with their kids.

"Was it a waste of time? Not really. I mean the whole issue is that she is back at home and she is safe."

12-year-old Karla Rivas had been missing for several weeks when all of a sudden, Monday afternoon, she came back home unharmed.

Authorities have been looking for Karla and even involved the FBI. At one point
there was even an Amber Alert issued after her disappearance.

"We are glad she is back, we are glad that she is fine. But couldn't we've
done something else with the time invested in this case...absolutely."

Police say Rivas and her family led authorities on a wild goose chase. First
the mother mistakenly gave the wrong ID for the person of interest.

Not until police compared the surveillance video with a picture at the bridge, they realize they were looking for the wrong guy.

According to police, Karla says she went willingly to Mexico City to visit
family, and that the person of interest helped her to get there safely.

"We wish we had known earlier that this case was more of a familiar problem than a criminal investigation problem."

Karla was interviewed by the children's advocacy center Monday making sure
she was not a victim of abuse by the person of interest.

The advocacy center says they can't disclose what Karla said on the
interview, but they do say parents should take a closer look at this
case.

"Children in particular on that age they don't want to
have anything to do with mom. They don't want anything to with parent.
They're very much involved with peers. But that's not an excuse for
parents."

In the case of Karla, the story appears to have a happy ending. Experts say it all too many situations that is not the case.

That's why they ask everyone to always have their eyes open and report any cases that may look suspicious.

According to police, they are still investigating this case. As of right now the
person of interest who left with Karla to Mexico is not facing any
criminal charges.