SEATTLE, WA—On National Missing Children’s Day, FBI Seattle highlights the successful recovery of four children between December 2022 and March 2023. These children were kidnapped from Washington state and taken out of state or to another country.

“Child kidnapping cases take a great deal of coordination with other law enforcement agencies, both in and outside the U.S., and with our legat offices, which further the FBI mission overseas,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “These cases demonstrate the dedication and compassion of FBI agents, victim specialists, and other personnel to the recovery, safety, and privacy of these young American citizens who have been illegally taken from our country.”

Most recently, in March 2023, FBI Seattle recovered a child from Morelia Michoacán, Mexico. In September 2022, a Longview, Washington, man reported that his son, for whom he has full custody, was kidnapped by his biological mother after a visitation.

In February 2023, FBI Seattle recovered an eight-year-old girl missing since 2018. Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was kidnapped by her biological mother on October 25, 2018, from a Vancouver, Washington, shopping mall.

Also, in February 2023, FBI Seattle recovered another eight-year-old child from Vancouver. Breadson John, missing since June 2022, was safely recovered in Jasper County, Missouri. The FBI issued a missing person poster on January 23, 2023, and determined Breadson had been taken to Missouri in August 2022.

Sometimes, our search takes us halfway around the world. “ND,” a five-year-old boy from Mount Vernon, Washington, was kidnapped by his foster parent and taken to Vietnam.

To protect these children, their names and locations within the U.S. are not being disclosed, beyond what has been previously released via seeking information posters.

Typically, the FBI becomes involved in missing persons cases if local law enforcement requests assistance to provide a tool, tactic, or technique they do not have access to as part of their investigation. For potentially missing children, the FBI was given jurisdiction under the “Lindbergh Law” in 1932 to immediately investigate any reported mysterious disappearance or kidnapping involving a child, usually 12 or younger. However, the FBI can open an investigation into any missing child under the age of 18 as an assisting agency to the local police department. Learn more about the FBI’s efforts to bring missing children home.

The FBI’s legal attaché offices—commonly known as legats—and sub-offices are located in key cities around the globe and provide coverage for more than 180 countries, territories, and islands.

FBI Seattle is one of the 56 FBI field offices located in the United States. The mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. For more information, visit www.fbi.gov or www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/seattle.