The nightmare ended for the family of Wilton Gutiérrez, the 10-year-old Nicaraguan migrant boy who was abandoned on the southern border of USA and that he appeared crying and alone in a viral video.
His mother, Meylin Obregón, who had been kidnapped in northern Mexico since the end of last month, was finally released.
This was announced this Wednesday on YouTube channel of her brother Misael. “I have the best news in the world! It is the happiest moment of my life. My sister has been freed from the kidnappers,” he said without offering further details.
The woman, who traveled from Nicaragua in the hope of being able to enter the United States, was kidnapped along with her son Wilton after US immigration authorities returned them to Mexican territory.
His brother Misael, a Miami resident, received a call from the captors who they asked for US $ 10,000, as he told BBC Mundo on Tuesday.
Unable to raise more than half the amount, only his nephew Wilton was released and abandoned by criminals at the border, where he was found by the police.
The recording of that dramatic moment, in which the boy appeared disoriented and scared, was the one that went viral in recent weeks.
The future of the family
Wilton remains in a shelter in Brownsville, Texas. His uncle Misael is hopeful that he will be able to join him in the next few days, as well as his sister Meylin after his release.
The Nicaraguan government, however, announced on Monday that it was already carrying out the procedures for the repatriation of the child to the Central American country, where his father lives with another brother of the minor.
According to the woman’s relatives, the situation of psychological abuse that she lived in the home by her husband was what prompted her to undertake the dangerous journey to the United States with Wilton.
In the month of March alone, more than 170,000 migrants were detained at the southern US border. It is the highest figure in the last 15 years. Most claim to escape poverty and violence in their countries, mostly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.