The government of Nicaragua has reached out to its counterparts in Mexico and the United States as well as Interpol in hopes of finding the kidnapped mother of a 10-year-old boy who made headlines after he was seen on video begging a U.S. Border Patrol officer for help after he had been abandoned in Texas.
Abductors are requesting $5,000 for the release of Meylin Obregón, 30, the mother of Wilton Obregón, who was caught on video tearfully asking a Border Patrol officer for aid.
The Obregóns had left their home in the Nicaragua town of El Rama with Meylin’s twin nephews on February 8 as mother and son sought to distance themselves from alleged abuse she had suffered at the hands of her partner and the boy’s father, Lazaro Gutiérrez, according to newspaper La Prensa.
In late March, Meylin Obregón and Wilton Obregón illegally crossed the Mexico-United States border and were intercepted by U.S. Border Patrol before they were forced to return back to Mexico. However, her 15-year-old nephews were able to remain in the U.S.
Meylin Obregón and Wilton Obregón were then kidnapped an hour after arriving in Mexico.
The Nicaraguan government has appealed to its counterparts in Mexico and the United States and also enlisted the help of Interpol to find 30-year-old mother Meylin Obregón (left) who was kidnapped by a gang near the Mexico border in late March just an hour after immigration officials in Texas expelled her and her son Wilton Obregón (right) for illegally crossing the border
Wilton Obregón, a native of Nicaragua, drew headlines last week after he appeared in a video crying in front of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and asking for help after he had been abandoned by the group of migrants he had crossed the Mexico-United States border with. Obregón was found in the middle of a Texas road April 1 and placed in custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Nicaragua Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murrillo said the consul general in Houston returned to the United States on Monday and was expecting to visit the child at a CBP holding facility
Misael Obregón (pictured) said he has encountered problems sleeping ever since his sister Meylin Obregón was kidnapped near the Mexico border in late March
Her abductors contacted her brother Misael Obregón in Miami requesting ransom, but he was only able to gather enough money to secure his nephew Wilton’s freedom, Univision reported.
‘Well, the truth is, I got a part of the money with friends. I got a part of the money to free my nephew and thank God they released him,’ said Misael Obregón, who was reunited with his 15-year-old sons April 6.
‘But I don’t have the money for her. It’s kind of ugly. I hardly sleep,’ added Misael Obregón.
After Wilton Obregón was released from his captors, he was able to again cross into the United States with more than 100 people.
But he was left behind in the middle of the night while napping in the Texas desert area. On April 1, a U.S. Border Patrol officer who was on his way home after concluding his work shift encountered Wilton Obregón in the middle of a dirt road in the Texas border city of La Grulla.
Wilton Obregón (left) , his mother Meylin Obregón (right) and two cousins left Nicaragua for the United States on February 8 and were expelled by immigration authorities and forced to return to Mexico in late March. His two cousins were able to remain in the U.S. because they were unaccompanied minors. An hour after arriving in Mexico, mother and child were kidnapped by a local gang, who used the woman’s phone to contact her brother, Misael Obregón, in Miami, Florida. He borrowed money from friends to secure his nephew’s freedom but was unable to pay the $5,000 ransom the abductors want to release his sister
Misael Obregón with his 15-year-old twin sons at his home in Miami, Florida. The children were allowed to enter the United States because they were unaccompanied although they had crossed the Mexico-United States border with their aunt, Meylin Obregón, and cousin, Wilton Obregón
A video recorded by the Border Patrol agent, who remains unnamed, captured the moment Obregón went up to him crying and asking for help.
‘It’s that I was coming with a group and they abandoned me and I do not know where they are at,’ the child told the officer in Spanish.
Later the border agent asked the boy if he had been instructed ‘to come ask for help,’ but the the child replied, ‘no, I am coming because if I did not, where am I going to go? Somebody could abduct me, kidnap me. I am scared.’
Meylin Obregón (right) abandoned her Nicaragua home with her son Wilton Obregón (left) due to the alleged abuse that the father of her two children inflicted on her
Still image of Misael Obregón speaking to his nephew Wilton Obregón, who is currently in custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection at a facility in Brownsville, Texas
Nicaragua First Lady and Vice President Rosario Murrillo told reporters on Monday night that the country’s consul general in Houston was traveling back to Texas to meet with Wilton Obregón.
Murrillo said that the government was working on the necessary measures to reunite the boy with Gutiérrez, his father.
Gutiérrez, who has another son with Meylin Obregón, told La Prensa that he was open to allowing his son to remain in the United States if immigration authorities grant him permission to do so.
However, Misael Obregón told La Prensa that he opposes his nephew’s repatriation to Nicaragua because he would be placed under the custody of an ‘irresponsible and abusive father.’
‘I did not know those intentions [of Gutiérrez] because I had seen a video where he said that he did not have an opinion about the child because the child prefers his mother and now I do not know why he is saying [to repatriate his son].’
A second video that surfaced online last week shows Misael Obregón on a cellphone talking to his nephew from the CBP facility he is being held at in Brownsville, Texas.
Wilton Obregón can be heard telling his uncle that he had been studying on a computer and had blood drawn from each of his arms by the CBP medical staff.
‘I know that hurts a lot,’ he said.
‘I know my child,’ Misael Obregón replied. ‘But you know that’s for you well-being so that you don’t get sick … How are you feeling my child? Do you want to get out of there? Do you want to be with me already?’
