Police in Western New York issued an Amber Alert for a 14-month-old after his mother was found dead Wednesday in Wayne County.
Owen Hidalgo-Calderon was last seen on Joy Road in Sodus, a town about 35 miles east of Rochester, and has been missing since May 16, according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
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Owen’s mother, Selena Hidalgo-Calderon, was found deceased on Wednesday in a bag in a wooded area on a farm, reports Syracuse.com. Deputies believe the 18-year-old woman was murdered.
Hidalgo-Calderon’s boyfriend, Alberto “Ebavardo Gutierrez” Reyes, is now in custody and was charged with removing Hidalgo-Calderon’s body from the home. Sheriff Barry Virts said Reyes has not answered questions about Owen.
“As a father and grandfather, my heart would like to tell me that we will find young Owen alive, but my experience in law enforcement tells me we will not,” Vertis told reporters, reports the Democrat and Chronicle.
Vertis said he had no evidence of an abduction and believes authorities will likely find a body.
Authorities say Reyes is not Owen’s father. His father lives in Guatemala and his mother has been in the U.S. since November 2016.
“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 released by the Workers’ Center of Central New York.
Calderon said she usually speaks with her daughter at the end of the day. She reported her daughter and grandson missing on May 20, three days after she received the last text from Hidalgo-Calderon. Owen was also not seen at day care on May 17 or 18.
Hidalgo-Calderon was in the middle of being deported at the time of her death, and her family was applying for asylum. She was scheduled to appear in court on June 5.
Police said they will resume the search of the farm where Hidalgo-Calderon’s body was found on Saturday morning with the help of volunteers. They plan to continue on Sunday.
According to the Amber alert on Owen, he was “possibly last seen” with Reyes. Owen is described as “a Hispanic male, approximately 1 year 2 months old with short, brown hair and brown eyes. He is approximately 2 feet and weighs about 30 pounds.” He also needs asthma medication.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department at (866) NYS-AMBER or dial 911.
Photo credit: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
