NHP nabs father who hid children from mother in Mexico for 3 1/2 years

Friday, Sept. 11, 1998 | 9:38 a.m.

Maria Hernandez was reunited Wednesday with daughter Patsy, 7, and son Jose Jr., 6, after Jose Barraza Sr., 32, admitted that the children were with his parents in Sinoloa, Mexico.

Barraza was arrested Aug. 28 after a trooper saw his car at the side of the road and stopped to help. A record check showed an outstanding felony warrant.

Maria Emetrio, a state attorney general's investigator, located the mother of the abducted children with the help of Nellis Air Force Base authorities. Hernandez is now married to a man who was in the Air Force.

Emetrio credited NHP Trooper Patrick McNeely for his work, noting Barraza insisted at first that the warrant was for someone else but McNeely "sensed something was wrong and fully investigated."

Barraza was booked on a felony charge of violating parental custody rights and is being prosecuted by the attorney general's office.

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