Eighteen-year-old New Mexico teen Robert Terrezas has come forward to police, saying he may be the missing seven-year-old child who vanished 11 years ago, MSNBC is reporting. The boy, Robbie Romero, went missing in 2000 as he was walking home from a friend’s house.
Terrezas allowed investigators to take DNA samples to confirm his identity. Santa Fe Police Lt. Louis Caarlos told reporters from NBC Santa Fe affiliate KOB that “If this is Robbie Romero I think I would be ecstatic for the family that they found their missing child.”
Terrezas came forward after he was talking to Romero’s brother, Ricky, who is his friend. He told Ricky that he also used the name Robert Romero and had a hard time remembering his childhood. Ricky then rushed home to tell his mother, Evelyn, who called police.
Evelyn said he had no idea if Terrezas is his son, but she can see the resemblance and his mannerisms. “But I wonder if that’s me just wanting it so bad, him being alive and well,” she said.
If Terrezas doesn’t turn out to be Robbie Romero, he won’t be prosecuted for wrongdoing, since police approached him. The Santa Fe police treated the boy’s disappearance in 2000 as a homicide. However, no one was ever arrested in the case, and the body was never found.
Written by: Karen Benardello
