The extended family of a young girl who was abandoned at a Dallas hospital has stepped forward to identify her, but the child remains in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services for now.
TDFPS announced on Monday that it was searching for the parents or legal guardians of 6-year-old Alejandra after she was left at Baylor Medical Center Dallas. The child was allegedly dropped off there by a woman presumed to be her mother, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The girl was able to provide case workers with her first name and her age but could not give them any other identifying information about her family.
On Wednesday, Cynthia Torres reached out to the Spanish language news station Univision, identifying herself as the child’s aunt. She reportedly shared documents and photos with the news station proving that she was the child’s aunt, and she explained how the child wound up at the hospital.
Torres stated that her sister — Alejandra’s mother — suffers from a mental condition and was “out of control, very upset” and allegedly told Torres that she wanted to hurt herself.
The girl’s mother allegedly told a nurse at the hospital that she was leaving her daughter there because she had no way to care for her or feed her, Torres said.
“When I spoke to her, she told me that she just handed [Alejandra] over,” Torres told Univision. “She said, ‘I gave her up. Why do you meddle in my business?'”
The child’s mother has reportedly refused to come forward to speak with social workers about the situation. Alejandra’s father is not able to help, as he was deported to Mexico four years ago, according to Torres.
Torres said she spoke with social workers and provided information on Alejandra’s family. She and her mother, Esthela Varquez, Alejandra’s grandmother, would like to take Alejandra home with them, but because they are not the girl’s legal guardians, social workers cannot allow that without speaking directly to the child’s parents.
“Don’t let them say we don’t want her. People don’t know. People think that they don’t want her, that they just left her there, but they don’t know,” Varquez said with tears in her eyes.
A spokesperson with TDFPS confirmed to Univision that “Alejandra is safe and being cared for in her foster home.”
A court hearing for the case is expected to be held next week on December 14, per NBC 5 DFW.
