Yasmin Gonzalez Benitez's young child remains in the custody of Child Protective Services, according to authorities
Credit: santa anna police department
NEED TO KNOW
- Authorities say a California woman who went missing in Mexico has been found safe
- Yasmin Gonzalez Benitez, 21, “voluntarily” left her young daughter with her roommate and never returned
- Benitez reportedly told her roommate she would return the same day, but has been gone for approximately two weeks
A California mother who was reported missing after telling her roommate she was taking a short trip to Tijuana has been found safe, according to police.
Yasmin Gonzalez Benitez, 21, “is voluntarily in Mexico,” the Santa Ana Police Department said in a statement shared to social media on Tuesday, March 31.
On March 24, the department said Benitez told her roommate that she was traveling to Mexico to visit family and would return hours later on the evening of March 15. The young mother left her 4-year-old daughter in the care of the roommate, but never returned.
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At the time, police said the behavior was out of character.
With authorities unable to locate Benitez, her daughter was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services, where she remains as of Tuesday.
Santa Ana Police Officer Natalie Garcia previously said authorities made multiple attempts to contact Benitez’s mother and brother, but had no luck in receiving information that could locate the 21-year-old and reunite her with her child.
"Unfortunately, our detectives made numerous attempts to contact Yasmin's brother and mother, and they're being very uncooperative," Garcia told CBS LA.
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"The roommate tries to contact Yasmin, but there was no answer," Garcia continued.
The officer also called Benitez’s disappearance “very suspicious,” because the 21-year-old was someone who “would take her [child] to preschool.”
"She would come home,” Garcia told CBS LA. “She would work, but she always had someone in the care of her daughter. She never left for more than a couple of days with the daughter, so this is very suspicious to us.”
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