LCPD: Mother arrested after reporting child missing; later remembers where he is

A Las Cruces mother who reported her 4-year-old son as missing was arrested after she told police she remembered where her son was moments after they had already searched the area and issued a news release.

Martha Alicia Guerrero-Rivas, 25, has been given a misdemeanor charge of one count of making a false report, after she told police she remembered she allowed her son to stay the night at a friend’s house. This revelation came 30 minutes after the Las Cruces Police Department issued a news release on the missing child.

Las Cruces police were dispatched to a report of a missing 4 year-old boy shortly before 4 A.M. on Saturday, October 6th. According to police, Guerrero-Rivas had said she last saw her son at about 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Officers searching the immediate area were unable to locate the missing child, while investigators questioned Guerrero-Rivas. During that time, police say she indicated she had no knowledge of her son’s whereabouts.

At around 7 a.m. that day, Guerrero-Rivas would go on to tell police she just remembered her son’s location. Officers immediately went to the friend’s home and were able to locate the boy there.

After being found, the New Mexico Children, Youth and Famalies Department took custody of the child.

Guerrero-Rivas was arrested and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center on Saturday, before being on her own recognizance later that day.