An image of Lezly Ornelas Sanchez, 6, better known as “Alondra,” was shared over 68,000 times on Facebook after suspicions were raised that she had been kidnapped. All too accustomed to seeing darker-skinned kids begging for change, Tapatios seemed shocked by the sight of a “güera” hawking gum and asking for change at the corner of Avenida Vallarta and Niño Obrero.
The outcry on social media quickly prompted a police investigation. The girl’s 23-year-old mother, Jiola Ornelas Sanchez – who has more traditional Mexican features – was detained while Lezly and her brother Tony, 4, were taken into care. Police only released Jiola when Lezly’s grandmother – who also has green eyes – came forward with her birth certificate, and when unauthorized DNA tests taken by local authorities proved positive.
However, even then the mother was not allowed custody of her children.
Because prosecutors believed she had forced her kids to hawk merchandise on the street Jiola was charged with child exploitation. The charges, however, were eventually dropped.
In November, Jiola and her sister Laura – whose daughter had also been taken away from her – filed a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission (CEDHJ) over the way they had been treated by the state Attorney General’s Office. With help from the local non-governmental FIND Foundation, they won an injunction allowing them to visit their children at the orphanage, but for only two hours per week.
Jiola told Spanish-language daily Mural that during this time, staff from the Hogar Cabañas offered to return her son to her, but not her daughter. “They would tell me that if I wanted my son he could live with me, but not Lezly because she was very pretty and she had to live with a nice family,” Jiola is quoted as saying.
The children were finally returned to their mothers this week after experts from the Institute of Forensic Sciences determined that they showed no signs of mistreatment or abuse; their weight and height were consistent with their ages; and they stated that their mother never forced them to work. Lezly and Tony will return to a much improved family environment as Jiola now has a steady job, a home and the means to send her children to school.