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Public Safety

Mom Of 2 Missing Tijuana Children Gives DNA Sample In S.D.

Mom of 2 Missing Tijuana Children Gives DNA Sample In S.D.
The mother of two children who went missing in Tijuana during heavy rains nearly two weeks ago provided a DNA sample in San Diego Monday. She wants to know if the bodies of two children found here last week are her children.

The mother of two children that went missing in Tijuana during heavy rains nearly two weeks ago provided a DNA sample in San Diego Monday. She wants to know if the bodies of two children found here last week are her children.

Thirty-four-year-old Rocio Mendez traveled from Tijuana to San Diego on a special visa the Mexican Consulate helped her get. She didn't have papers to cross.

She came to provide a DNA sample to see if it matches the bodies of two small children in San Diego's morgue.

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A group called Desert Angels found the bodies near the border fence last week.

Alberto Diaz is a spokesperson for the Mexican Consulate. He says the bodies may be Mendez's 2-year-old and 5 year-old that washed away in Tijuana during the rains nearly two weeks ago.

"I think she's just anxious to get that information so she can close that chapter and move on. Its been very hard for her."

Diaz says the Medical Examiner has not discarded the possibility that the young boy's body found last Wednesday is Mendez's 2 year-old son Hector. That comes after varying reports generated confusion. The Border Patrol initially said the body was a toddler girl. Then, they reported it was a 4 year-old boy. Finally, the Border Patrol said the body was not one of Mendez's missing children.

Diaz says the medical examiner has expedited the DNA testing and should have results in a week. However, the medical examiners office would not estimate when they'd have results.

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Diaz says procedure prohibited Mendez from seeing the bodies.

He says the only missing children reports he's received during the last two weeks are for Mendez's children.

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