ESPANOLA, N.M. (KRQE) – Local and federal law enforcement are continuing the search for a missing 5-year-old girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert Sunday night.
The Rio Arriba County Sheriff says Renezmae Calzada was last seen playing in the front yard of her Española home Sunday morning around 9 a.m. According to the mother’s Facebook page, she was at work and the girl was with the mother’s boyfriend. It was when she got home, around 8 p.m., that he told her Renezmae was missing.
Investigators say one man has been taken into custody who could possibly be connected to the girl’s disappearnce. They confirmed that the person in custody is the mother’s boyfriend Malcolm Torres.
He was arrested Monday for three outstanding warrants which were a failure to pay and failure to comply in some past DWI cases. Court records show the mother had filed a petition last month to establish child support from Torres and visitation with both children. Investigators say they are currently questioning him.
At a news conference Monday, investigators from the sheriff’s office and the FBI said they cannot confirm if Calzada was kidnapped, however, they believe her life is in danger.
Authorities began a widespread search for the girl Monday starting with searching the neighborhood.
“(Search crews are) knocking on every single door in Renezmae’s neighborhood, asking for anyone who has any information about perhaps what they saw, what they heard in the last 24 hours that might have provided clues as to her location,” said James Langenberg, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s New Mexico branch.
Dozens of community members also helped in the search efforts Monday, looking in nearby canals and ditches and a vast rugged area behind Española Valley High School, which is close to the girl’s home.
“(The area is) treacherous, there’s been a lot of couches and stuff, we’ve been flipping mattresses, looking under everything that we could possibly look and ditches, everything, we’ve been looking,” said Jeanette War, a community volunteer helping search Monday.
While community volunteers are holding out hope they’ll find Renezmae, they’re also urging others to help.
“Just don’t give up on this girl, she deserves a life, she deserves a future, and I hope that she’s OK,” said Ashley Vigil, a volunteer who was helping search efforts Monday.
If you have any information, call the Rio Arriba Sheriff’s Office at 505-753-3329 or Rio Arriba Central Dispatch at 505-753-5555, option #7.
