A 7-year-old girl was believed abducted – and traveling to Mexico – with a man suspected of killing the girl’s mother in a northeast Denver house, police said Monday.
The girl, Breanna Martinez Chavez, was missing from the house where her mother, Araseli Martinez-Fabela, 32, was found dead Sunday night.
Police said they believe a man who lived with them, Hilario Martinez-Fabela, 34, killed the mother and fled to Mexico.
Police said they did not know what relationship Hilario had with the mother and daughter.
Denver police declined to issue an Amber Alert for the missing girl, which could have notified the public in surrounding states.
“There’s strict parameters to be met for an Amber Alert, and this doesn’t meet them,” said police Detective Virginia Qui ñones. She declined to elaborate.
A child must be under 17 and in immediate danger of bodily harm or death, according to the website of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which runs the alert system.
There also must be sufficient descriptions of the child and suspected abductor for the public to be able to help locate them.
Quiñones said detectives had other information about the case they didn’t want to become public.
“It was because of this information that we do not feel that an Amber Alert would be appropriate for this particular situation,” Quiñones said.
Police asked for the public’s help through news releases and local media on Monday.
They also contacted other police agencies “not only statewide, but along the Mexican border as well,” Quiñones said.
She declined to say which agencies were contacted and whether Mexican authorities were among them.
A neighbor called police to the house at 5547 Hannibal St., about 10:30 p.m. Sunday to check on its residents.
Inside, the woman was found dead of apparent blunt-force injuries, according to the police.
Police said it was not clear when Martinez was killed. Police said they think she may have been dead since Friday.
One neighbor, Mitchell Campbell, 13, said he and a couple of friends were walking by the house Sunday night, before police came, when they heard a commotion.
“We heard screams and somebody say, ‘Call the police,”‘ Mitchell said. Minutes later, several police cars came to the home and crime-scene tape was set up, he said.
Campbell said he later told officers he had heard what he thought was a scream and a gunshot from the home Friday night, but wasn’t sure and didn’t report it.
Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the woman sold Avon products to her neighbors. She also sometimes sold Mexican belts, hats and rugs at the Mile High Flea Market.
Staff writer Nick Martin can be reached at 303-954-1698 or nmartin@denverpost.com.
