Parents who took Fort Myers children to Mexico not in custody
Two adults involved with taking two young children from Fort Myers and into Mexico in June remain in that country.
Parents lnmer Barrios Osorio, 25, a Guatemalan native and former Lee County resident, and Evelin Jessamyn Sanchez Rojas, 25, a Mexican citizen, are not in custody and remain in Mexico, according to the US Marshals Service.
The Marshals Service said the police in Mexico had not been arrested or taken the parents into custody.
“Everything is up to the (Florida Department of Children and Families) now,” said Kris Garcia, a US Marshals Service spokesman. “The adults are not in custody.”
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The last update on the two children involved, 2-month-old and 2-year-old girls who were born in the Tampa area and are American citizens, indicated that they also remain in Mexico.
The Florida Department of Children and Families did not respond to inquiries made Wednesday and Thursday about the children and their current situation.
The children were reported missing on June 20, taken by their parents who then fled the United States to Linares, a small city in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon.
Garcia said that if the parents re-enter the US, and there were warrants for them, then they would be apprehended.
A Fort Myers police official said warrants are in the works for the two adults.
“It is very difficult,” Fort Myers police public information officer Kristin Capuzzi said about the law enforcement situation in Mexico. “Unless you have a murder warrant, they won’t assist.”
Fort Myers police became involved when they responded to a Maravilla Avenue address. Sgt. Glenn Thompson, a Fort Myers police homicide detective, explained at a media briefing in late June: “Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office needed assistance in reference to two missing children.”
The Maravilla address is the home of the children’s aunt, Iris Roxanne Barrios Ozorio, 34.
Barrios Ozorio was arrested on June 23 on interference with custody and obstruction of a police investigation charges. She was released on June 24 on $6,500 bond, pleaded not guilty and waived her arraignment.
Barrios Ozorio was visiting Tampa with the children’s biological mother, Rojas, when Rojas learned the children would be removed from her custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families on June 16. The removal was related to an investigation of Inmer Barrios Osorio, the biological father, and claims of sexual abuse involving a stepchild.
Barrios Ozorio then requested and was granted custody and brought the girls to Fort Myers.
Thompson said initial information gathered by Fort Myers homicide detective Maalisa Langton and other officers indicated that the children had left Fort Myers with Rojas and possibly Inmer Barrios Osorio, a violation of a child custody order from Hillsborough County.
Thompson said Barrios Ozorio told detectives that Rojas had picked up the children.
“Through our investigation we were able to disprove that,” Thompson said. “She lied during the investigation.”
Barrios Ozorio’s arrest report outlined the efforts Fort Myers police made, including checking surveillance video at the Maravilla address in the Green Tee Apartments. The report said the video showed Barrios Ozorio and her husband loading the children into a car and driving off.
Evidence gathered by Fort Myers police showed the couple then delivered the girls to Rojas and Inmer Barrious Osorio at another location.
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