Missing Denton 4-Year-Old Is With Dad "Out Of The Country"
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DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Authorities have learned that a missing 4-year-old Denton boy, who triggered an Amber Alert over the weekend, is now outside of the United States.
Denton police say Ricardo Alekzander Lara is with his father, 23-year-old Ricardo Martinez. Saying they did not want to release too much information out of concern for the little boy, police would not confirm many details and did not say where "out of the country" the pair was found.
Martinez is a person of interest in the murder of the boy's mother, Maria Isabel Romero Medina. Her body was found Saturday night inside the Sanchez Insurance and Tax insurance office in the 1100 block of East McKinney Street. Police say a customer had been unable to get inside the Denton business and contacted another employee. Medina's body was found when the worker arrived and went inside.
Early Tuesday, the Texas Department of Public Safety discontinued the Amber Alert for Ricardo Lara. At a press conference later in the day Denton police Officer Shane Kizer explained why the Amber Alert was cancelled. "Yesterday evening we were able to determine that Alek was with his father, Ricardo Martinez. We also learned they had left the country. By leaving the country Ricardo Lara no longer met the criteria for an active Amber Alert."
In relation to the murder of Maria Medina Officer Kizer said, "Our investigation reveals that Ricardo Martinez and Alek had already left the country at the time the victim's body was found."
Denton police said they are working on obtaining an arrest warrant for Martinez for Medina's murder.
Investigators said prior to her murder, the 27-year-old mother had threatened to terminate Martinez's parental rights.
Medina's family is trying to raise money to cover funeral expenses. They are collecting donations through a GoFundMe account in the hopes that a service can be held in California, where the majority of her family, including her parents, live. They are also holding a fundraiser on Wednesday, Dec. 17 from 7-9 p.m. at the front entrance of Providence Village off of Hwy. 380.
Denton police began investigating the woman's apparent homicide with help from the Texas Rangers, FBI, and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
It was after detectives determined Martinez had family and friends in Mexico, Springfield, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois, that they found the father and son were out of the country.
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