AMBER Alert for Owen Hildago-Calderon: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Facebook An AMBER Alert has been issued in the Sodus area for one-year-old Owen Hidalgo-Calderon, the son of Selena Hidalgo-Calderon, who was found dead in Sodus Wednesday night.

Police in New York have issued an AMBER Alert on Friday, May 25 for a missing 14-month-old boy whose mother’s body was found in a plastic bag hidden in the woods two days earlier, according to CBS News. The alert said the child, Owen Hidalgo-Calderon, was last seen May 16, the same day his mother, Selena Hidalgo-Calderon, was last seen. Her body was found Wednesday morning.

“The child was taken under circumstances that lead the police to believe that he is in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death,” the alert said.

Although deputies in Wayne County have issued an AMBER alert as they search for a missing toddler, they still consider Friday’s search of a Sodus farm to be a recovery effort, according to Democrat & Chronicle. The toddler, who is described as a 30-pound Hispanic male with brown hair and brown eyes, is known to need asthma medication, according to the AMBER alert. It is unknown what the child was last wearing before he went missing.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. The Young Mother, 18-Year-Old Selena Hidalgo-Calderon, was Found at a Farm that She and Her Boyfriend Alberto “Ebavardo Gutierrez” Reyes Worked On

Hidalgo-Calderon was found at a farm in the Wayne County town of Sodus where she and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Alberto “Ebavardo Gutierrez” Reyes, worked, according to CBS News. The body was hidden between two logs and covered over with dirt, twigs and tree branches.

“We don’t want to leave any stone unturned,” Sklenar said, according to Democrat & Chronicle. “We’ve been searching the property for a week, but the search (for Owen) really intensified today.”

Reyes was caught on a hunter’s trail camera carrying a shovel, walking in and back out of the woods. He was arrested Wednesday night; Reyes admitted to burying the young mother but not killing her, Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts said. He is being held on charges of tampering with physical evidence with a $25,000 bail.

Virts said he is working with authorities in Mexico, where Reyes is from, to learn more about him and if he has a criminal record. He is not the missing child’s father, according to CBS News. Reyes also did not answer questions about Owen’s whereabouts, according to Virts.


2. Hidalgo-Calderon and Reyes are Immigrants Seeking Asylum in the United States; Hidalgo-Calderon was a Guatemalan Immigrant and Reyes from Mexico


After the mother and child went missing, relatives indicated that Hidalgo-Calderon and Reyes may have run away due to their immigration status, according to the sherrif’s office. However, there was no indication of an attempt to flee after authorities checked the surrounding train and bus stations, according to CBS News.

Rebecca Fuentes of the Workers’ Center of Central New York told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that Hidalgo-Calderon was from Guatemala and was seeking asylum.

“I don’t care about your race, creed, color, national origin or religion,” Virts said at a news conference, according to CBS News. “If you are a victim, we will fight for you, we will triumph for you. If you are a perpetrator and you have abused somebody, we are going to hunt you down.”

Hidalgo-Calderon had been in the U.S. since November 2016, according to the Workers’ Center.


3. Described by Loved Ones as  a Hard-Working Young Mother, Hidalgo-Calderon was in the Process of Being Deported Before her Disappearance

Described by relatives as a “hard-working” young mother from Guatemala, Hidalgo-Calderon’s family is heartbroken over the loss.

“My daughter and my grandson were my life, she was my first born and I feel like a piece of my heart is gone,” Estela Calderon, Hidalgo-Calderon’s mother, said in a statement through the Workers’ Center of Central New York, according to Democrat & Chronicle.

Calderon reported her daughter and grandson missing on Sunday, three days after last texting with Hidalgo-Calderon, reports Democrat & Chronicle. According to her mother, the two typically communicate at the end of each day, Calderon said. Owen, who typically attends day care when his mother works, was not dropped off at day care on May 17 or 18.

According to Democrat & Chronicle, Hidalgo-Calderon was in the process of being deported and her family attempting to apply for asylum. Her next court appearance was scheduled on June 5 before she disappeared.

Virts said he did not believe her death was in any way linked to her immigration status.


4. Authorities Still Hope to Find the Child Alive, but Know the Search May Become a Body Search Very Soon

Authorities say that the baby is still missing and is presumed dead at this time, but put the alert out as a “Hail Mary attempt to find the baby,” according to WIVB4. In the AMBER Alert, officials say the sheriff’s department is investigating “a child abduction on Joy Road.”

Friday morning, an RTS bus brought more than a 100 volunteers who are assisting in the search for the baby.

“We’re still hopeful that we’ll find him (alive) someplace and that someone out there has information about his whereabouts,” Sklenar said, adding that the search on Joy Road is still considered a recovery effort.


5. The AMBER Alert Has Been in Used for 21 Years to Help Assist Authorities in Recovering Abducted Children

According to the AMBER Alert webpage, the alert system is being used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 22 other countries.

“As of March 2018, a total of 924 children had been successfully recovered through the AMBER Alert system,” the page says.

On September 29, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved improvements to Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), the system that delivers critical warnings and information about missing children to wireless phone users. The FCC updated the alerts to help enhance the information that state and local authorities are able to send out into the communities to better aid in the search for missing individuals.

“The changes include requiring wireless providers to support inclusion of embedded phone numbers and URLs in all WEA alerts, including allowing users to link to pictures and phone numbers in AMBER Alert urgent child-abduction bulletins,” the site reads.

The new FCC rules are planned to be implemented within the next 30 months.