Woman Arrested for Kidnapping Three-Year-Old
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE #26G008041**
Kristen Duus, PIO
Greeley Police Department
970.350.9605 (office)
Kristen.duus@greeleypd.com
Woman Arrested for Kidnapping Three-Year-Old
GREELEY, Colo. – On Monday, June 8, at approximately 6:20pm, Greeley Police responded to the Bears Village Apartments on 18th Street following reports of a missing three-year-old girl. The mother reported that her daughter had last been seen at approximately 4:30pm playing at a playground around the corner from their apartment. Several residents in the area provided video footage to officers showing what the girl was last seen wearing and her appearance prior to her disappearance.
Law enforcement deployed extensive resources to saturate the area and locate the child including:
- A thorough door-to-door search of the apartment complex
- The activation of a Reverse 911 alert spanning a five-mile radius
- Aerial support via a drone deployed by the Real Time Information Center
- Immediate social media broadcasts to alert the public
- The deployment of search and rescue K9 Onyx
- Mutual aid notification to the University of Northern Colorado Police Department
At approximately 7:15pm, officers received a report from a citizen stating that the girl was seen walking in an alley near Cranford Place with an adult woman. K9 Onyx responded to the alley and positively alerted to the missing child’s scent.
Multiple additional sightings were reported and officers searched the neighborhood. At approximately 7:45pm, the child and woman were located in the 1400 block of 15th Street.
The woman, identified as 30-year-old Mariah Martinez, was taken into custody without incident and transported to the police department. She was later booked into the Weld County Jail on charges of felony second-degree kidnapping and child abuse.
The child was transported to a local hospital for a precautionary evaluation and has since been reunited with her family.
The Greeley Police Department extends its sincere gratitude to the alert citizens, community members and media partners whose rapid sharing of information and vigilant eyes directly contributed to the child’s safe return.
Anyone who had contact, video surveillance or any information that may be helpful to the investigation is urged to contact Detective Collin Losasso at Collin.Losasso@greeleypd.com or Detective Brett Stone at Brett.Stone@greeleypd.com. This is an ongoing investigation, and all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No further details will be released today.