US girl missing for 12 years found in Mexico

A girl abducted by her mother 12 years ago has been found safe and well in Mexico after a joint US-Mexican operation.

Sabrina Allen went missing in 2002 at the age of four, and was found in the town of Estafeta Tlaxcala, 140km east of Mexico City.

She is now 17 years old.

'I am overjoyed that Sabrina has been found alive and is safe,' said her father Greg Allen in a statement released by private eye firm Klein Investigations and Consulting, who helped track his daughter down.

'Our entire family would like to thank the investigators that made this happen,' he added.

He had been given sole custody of his daughter when he divorced his wife Dara Marie Llorens in 2000. But she 'knowingly abducted' the child during a weekend visit in April 2002, according to an affidavit.

Llorens, who was wanted on a federal warrant on charges of aggravated kidnapping, interference with child custody, and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, had been under surveillance for about two weeks by an informant working for investigators.

The arrest warrant charges that Llorens 'intentionally and knowingly abducted the child by restraining her so as to interfere substantially with her liberty, by moving her from one place to another.'

One Mexican policeman was injured in the operation, officials said, adding that both Allen and her mother were returned to the US overnight.

The father added: 'Our prayers go out to the Mexican Federal Police officer who was injured. We also would like to thank the Mexican government for their cooperation in this case.

'They never gave up,' he said, also thanking the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US marshals who took part in the mission.

Sabrina had been listed as missing by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. Llorens had disappeared to Mexico with the girl at the end of a six-month period of court-supervised visitation, according to the website FindSabrina.org.

Court documents obtained by KXAN show that Llorens fled the country with Sabrina after a judge ordered her to turn over her daughter by 6pm on April 21, 2002.

The pair had been spotted once in 2003, but eluded capture. Both had apparently dyed their hair and were using false names.

- Agencies