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Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discovery

16 June 2023 , 14:21
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Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discovery
Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discovery

An emotional mother has been reunited with her daughter nearly 30 years after she was allegedly snatched in a park.

Lorena Ramírez last saw Juana - now called Rocío - when, aged just three, she vanished in the park, reportedly kidnapped by another family.

Lorena said she had "prayed to God" regularly ever since that she'd see her oldest daughter again and, by chance, they were reunited through social media.

Footage shows the pair struggle to hold back the tears as they meet with authorities in Mexico City, Mexico.

They are then filmed in a poignant embrace - the first since 1995 when Rocío, whom Lorena had named Juana, disappeared.

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Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryLorena Ramírez embraces her daughter at the reunion (Jam Press)

"Just imagine, I suffered terribly for 27 years," overwhelmed Lorena said.

"Every time Juana's birthday came around, I prayed to God for her to be okay and to give me the chance to see her again."

"God gave us the opportunity to be together again.

"I couldn't believe it. When I opened the door, I stopped and she walked in. That hug after 27 years... She saw me and said 'you are my mother'. I replied 'yes, and you are my daughter'.

Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryLorena said she was overwhelmed to see Rocío in the room (Jam Press)

"'Thank you for the opportunity to see you again'."

Rocío, now 30 and married with two kids of her own, was allegedly taken in by another family in Bosque de Chapultepec, a large park in Mexico City in October 1, 1995.

The family who allegedly took the girl gave her a new birthday - the day she was supposedly snatched - but Rocío said she always knew the family wasn't her real relatives.

Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryLorena hadn't seen or heard of Rocío (left) for 27 years (Jam Press)

She left the house when she was 17 to move with her now husband.

After confronting her "mother" one day, the woman told Rocío that she found her wandering around Bosque de Chapultepec alone.

But Lorena alleges her child was snatched when she and her husband were saying goodbye to her husband's sister following a stroll around the park with Rocío and her other children.

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Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryRocío, then Juana, was allegedly kidnapped in a park (Jam Press)

Lorena said: "I don't know if it was a mother's hunch, but I knew in that moment that my daughter had just been taken from me."

Rocío's husband encouraged her to look for information about lost or stolen children on the internet.

On one website, she noticed a photo of a little girl and realised she looked exactly like her own son.

Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryJuana, now Rocío, pictured at the time of her disappearance with her dad and brother (Jam Press)

Rocío explained: "There was such a strong physical resemblance I said to myself 'I'm that girl'."

However, as there were no contact details accompanying the photo, the woman forgot about it and more time passed.

She said: "It took me another eight years before deciding to look for my family."

Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryA missing person's appeal was launched for the girl in late 1995 (Jam Press)

Rocío eventually launched an appeal on social media and included the photo of her as a young girl.

Her post was soon spotted by one of Lorena's other daughters.

Mum reunites with daughter snatched in park 27 years ago after chance discoveryLorena burst into tears after the reunion in Mexico City (Jam Press)

They began to talk on social media and soon arranged for Rocío to reunite with her long-lost mother last summer.

The couple who allegedly snatched the girl were arrested by the authorities in March this year.

It is unclear when they will stand trial.

Lee Bullen

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