Above: Betsabe Ayala Niessen in 2003

Betsabe Andrea Ayala Niessen

Last seen in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, on October 26, 2003

Vital statistics: Hispanic female. Born on September 5, 1998. Blond hair, green eyes. Was five at the time.

Circumstances: She was abducted by her non-custodial father, Alfonso Ignacio Ayala. No photo of him is available. He is a hispanic male who has black hair and brown eyes and was born on July 30, 1964; he was thirty-nine at the time. At the time of her abduction she lived with her mother, Betsabe Niessen Velasco. Ayala asked permission to take his daughter out of Mexico to visit relatives in Houston, Texas. Velasco later went to Houston in November 2003, expecting to return to Mexico with her daughter on an agreed-upon date. On February 13, 2004, Ayala told Velasco he would not be returning to Mexico City. There was a physical confrontation and Velasco was arrested and taken to a women's shelter. She returned to Mexico in May 2004 and sought the return of Betsabe under the Hague Treaty. On April 14, 2004, Ayala filed for divorce in Texas, claiming that Velasco lived in Harris County. He requested joint custody of Betsabe and wanted Velasco to pay child support. In several amended claims, he alleged Velasco had abused Betsabe and had abandoned her when she was in Houston. He eventually claimed she was deceased and asked for termination of her parental rights. Velsaco's rights were revoked on September 7, 2005. Two years later Velasco filed an appeal, saying that he used a false name for her in divorce hearings and falsely claimed he did not know her address. Her appeal was granted in December 2009, and a new trial was ordered. Betsabe and Ayala are still believed to be in Houston.

If you have any information as to Betsabe's whereabouts, please contact the Fiscalia Especializada en la Atención de Delitos de Tráfico de Menores at 01-800-008-5400. Any information received can be kept confidential.


Information used to compile this casefile came from the following resources:
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Mexico
The Doe Network
Niessen Velsaco vs. Ayala

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