NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Police are announcing they have re-connected a father and his daughter, who was kidnapped from New Haven, Connecticut, decades ago.

Officials say Andrea Michelle Reyes was abducted as an infant in 1999 by her non-custodial mother. She was recently found safe and living in Mexico.

Imagine your 2-month-old daughter vanishes one day, and you search for her tirelessly year after year.

Officials say that 25 years later, the search has finally come to an end. 

Andrea Michelle Reyes, who is now 27 years old, was abducted from New Haven by her non-custodial mother, Rosa Tenorio. Officials said she was taken to Mexico, where she and her mother have lived in the city of Puebla for the last 25 years.

Othram, a company involved in this investigation that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy, says Reyes’ father searched tirelessly over the years, even going to Mexico several times to look for her in person but found nothing. 

It wasn’t until a New Haven Police detective re-opened the cold case that police began to make progress. Through interviews, search warrants, and social media, Detective Kealyn Nivakoff was able to connect the dots and find Andrea. Police used DNA testing to confirm it was her.  

The arrest warrant for Andrea’s mother remains active but is only valid within the United States, and she is believed to still reside in Mexico.

One retired FBI special agent says cases like this are an incredibly difficult feat. 

“If a child is kidnapped here in the United States by a parent and taken to Mexico, it’s very hard to get them back from Mexico,” Retired FBI special agent Ken Gray said. “And if the mother remained in Mexico, it would be difficult to get her into the United States to prosecute her.”

The news conference will be taking place at police headquarters at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The city, Reyes’ father, the police department and the FBI are expected to be here for that announcement.