For more than two weeks, authorities have been searching in a rural New York town for 14-month old Owen Hidago-Calderon. Authorities issued an AMBER Alert for the child, after his mother, 18-year old Selena Hidago-Calderon, was found buried in a wooded area of a farm where she lived and worked. The AMBER ALERT indicated that the child was in danger of being in severe harm or death.
Selena Hidago-Calderon was from Guatemala. Authorities believe that she was murdered by her boyfriend, Evarardo Donoteo-Reyes, 25, who sometimes goes by the alias of Alberto Gutierrez-Reyes. The two of them worked and lived on the rural upstate New York farm where her body was found. They had been on the farm for about three weeks when this crime happened.
Hidago-Calderon spoke little English. The Workers’ Center of Central New York told reporters that Hidago-Calderon had been in the process of seeking asylum in the United States. She had been in the U.S. since late 2016.
Donoteo-Reyes, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, has already been deported twice. So far, he has not been charged in Hidago-Calderon’s death, but authorities say he is a suspect. They have arrested him on a “tampering with evidence” charge after he admitted to moving the body from the home and burying it between two logs in a hidden, woodsy area on the farm.
A hunter’s trail camera captured video of Donoteo-Reyes going in and out of the area of the woods where Hidago-Calderon was buried. Donoteo-Reyes has denied killing Hidago-Calderon but would not answer questions about how she died. Authorities believe that he killed her in the house that the two of them shared and then moved the body. However, Donoteo-Reyes refuses to answer any more questions and has asked for an attorney. Donoteo-Reyes will also not answer questions about the child’s whereabouts.
Owen, Hidago-Calderon’s child, was last seen on May 16. An AMBER Alert was issued right after his mother’s body was found. More than 200 searchers have combed more than 600 acres of rural land. New York state forest rangers, Wayne County Fire Department in the local and State Police Department have all assisted in the search. He missing and exploited children, Federation of search and rescue and ambulance and Emergency Management Squad have helped out as well. Additionally, an underwater recovery team was utilized to search a creek and other waterways that are near the Joy Road farm. In spite of all of the manpower and extensive search efforts, nothing has been found so far that indicates where the child might be located.
Authorities abruptly ended the AMBER Alert earlier in the week. Although they did not say why local Sheriff Barry Virts did tell reporters that is doubtful that the child is safe. He is calling the search for Owen a “recovery operation.” Donoteo-Reyes is not Owen’s father. The child’s father is in Guatemala, and it is not clear whether or not he has been notified about the search for his child.
Donoteo-Reyes was deported in 2016 and then again in 2017. He was convicted again in 2017 for trying to enter the United States illegally. Wayne County officials are working with Mexican authorities to try to determine whether or not Evarardo Donoteo-Reyes has a criminal record in Mexico. Donoteo-Reyes is currently being held on a $25,000 bail, and is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday. He is not the missing boy’s father.
Like Donoteo-Reyes, many illegal immigrants live and work on farms in upstate New York. This case demonstrates the real dangers to the communities that people like Donoteo-Reyes pose. This is the second murder since 2015 that has taken place at a rural New York farm that involves illegal immigrants. In 2015, an illegal immigrant violently murdered socialite Lois Colley at her upstate New York farm. A former family employee, Esdras Marroquin Gomez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, beat Colley to death with a fire extinguisher.
Law enforcement went to great lengths to find and persecute Marroquin Gomez. He had fled the United States just days after he bludgeoned to death the 83-year old. He had eluded capture until he was routed through Miami after being deported from Mexico. Authorities arrested Gomez in Mexico.
These cases illustrate the effort and taxpayer cost that goes into the efforts to prosecute illegal immigrants that commit violent crimes in the U.S. Immigration, and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Thomas Feeley tells reporters that ICE is determined to seek out and deport illegal aliens in New York.
~ Liberty Planet
