FMPD: Missing children remain in Mexico, parents wanted for interfering with custody

Reporter: Emma Heaton Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published: Updated:
missing
Two children, 2-month-old Genesis Barrios and 2-year-old Yazmin Barrios, are missing (left). They could be in the company of Evelin Sanchez-Rojas (biological mother of both children) and possibly Inmer Barrios (right).

A missing newborn and toddler last seen in Fort Myers were found in Mexico on Friday and that’s where they remain.

Their parents, who authorities say, abducted them from a Fort Myers home also remain in Mexico but are not in custody.

Two-month-old Genesis Barrios and 2-year-old Yazmin Barrios were missing from their aunt’s Maravilla Ave. home for about a week before they were found.

Authorities said the children were driven across the border by their biological parents Evelin Sanchez-Rojas and Inmer Barrios.

Fort Myers police Sgt. Glenn Thompson, in the homicide unit, said a warrant will be issued for Inmer Barrios’ arrest as well as the one already issued for Sanchez-Rojas.

Thompson made the announcement during a news conference hosted by the Fort Myers Police Department on Tuesday.

Fort Myers police said they tracked the parents from Southwest Florida into Texas and then Mexico by using license plate readers and pings off of cellphone towers.

Watch the press conference in the media player below or by clicking the link.

Authorities said the children were tracked down with the help of Mexican officials and U.S. Marshals. The children were found in Linares, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

“Medical officials, just as precautionary, had them checked out at the hospital so we know they are safe, they were uninjured,” Thompson said.

Fort Myers police arrested their aunt Iris Ozorio-Barrios from her Maravilla Avenue home on Thursday after first responding to her home on Monday to help the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office check on the children.

Iris Ozorio-Barrios, the girls’ paternal aunt, was given custody of the children on June 16.

Thompson said Ozorio-Barrios told authorities that Sanchez-Rojas traveled to her home and told her a judge had lifted a court order. Ozorio-Barrios said the mother of the girls said she could have custody of the two girls as long as Inmer Barrios was not living in the same home as her.

“Through our investigation detectives were able to disprove that statement,” Thompson said.

Iris Ozorio-Barrios faces charges of obstructing a criminal investigation by giving false information to law enforcement and interfering with the custody of a minor.

Thompson said there is a pending open investigation against Inmer Barrios from the Tampa Police Department.

Thompson did not disclose details in the case, but an arrest report for Iris Ozorio-Barrios states there are allegations of sexual abuse from another child related to Inmer Barrios.

According to the arrest report, Iris Ozorio-Barrios admitted to authorities that she and her husband had met Sanchez-Rojas and Inmer Barrios and handed over the girls.

Iris Ozorio-Barrios “stated she was fully aware that the children were not to be in the custody of father (sic),” according to the arrest report.

She also admitted to authorities that “she believes he is innocent of the sexual abuse allegations and was not aware they were going to flee the country,” the arrest report states.

Fort Myers police Chief Derrick Diggs said this was a time-sensitive matter.

“The swift work and constant communication between these agencies resulted in the safe, I repeat, safe recovery of two helpless small children,” Diggs said.

It’s unclear when the two girls will return to the U.S., but Thompson said they had received passports. It’s unknown when Sanchez-Rojas and Inmer Barrios will be placed in custody.

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