Woman who fled states with children back in U.S. to face charges, officials say

HOUSTON – A mother who triggered an Amber Alert by snatching her three small children and fleeing with them to Mexico last January, was returned to Houston Thursday.

She’s now in the Harris County Jail charged with aggravated kidnapping.

Doris Camarena, 24, was brought back to Houston by Mexican police this morning along with her three children. They were met at Bush Airport by officers with the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force, DPS troopers and Houston police.

Camarena appeared before a judge on Thursday night to hear the charge she's facing.

The children, Jason Fausto, 2, Aaliyah Fausto, 3, and Isac Fausto, 5, were handed over to Child Protective Services.

Camerena became an international fugitive in January when she snatched the kids from their grandmother’s house in the 1700 block of Roxella in north Houston.

The children had previously been placed there by CPS. She was not supposed to have contact with them.

Their grandmother told us at the time that she allowed Camerena to visit the children, but when it was time to come inside, her daughter loaded the kids in her car and drove off.

An Amber Alert was issued, but Camerena made it into Mexico with the children without being spotted.

Investigators tracked them to the city of Morelia, in central Mexico.

But it took months of work by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Task force, Texas state troopers and CPS to finally coordinate with Mexican federal police who arrested her this week.

Camerena went directly from the airport to the county jail this morning.

While their mother now faces a felony charge, the children will eventually be placed in a foster home.

“We’ve taken them to the hospital to be thoroughly checked out to make sure everything is OK. No bruising. When we got them they were traumatized, which is expected; they were hungry from the trip. And once we get an all-clear from doctors, we’re going to put them in foster care,” CPS’s Tejal Patel said.