SODUS, N.Y. – The search for missing 14-month-old Owen Hidalgo-Calderon, who was the subject of an Amber Alert Friday, is continuing with law enforcement officials and volunteers hoping, but seemingly doubting, they will find him alive.
Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts said the search has most likely become a recovery.
Officials said the baby’s mother, Selena Hidalgo-Calderon, who was also reported as missing, was found dead, her body reportedly wrapped in a plastic bag, in a wooded area off of Joy Road.
Deputies reported that they do not expect to find the baby alive and that the Amber Alert was a “Hail Mary” in the faint hopes the child still lives. On Friday, deputies said they will search until the child is found. However, if nothing is found Sunday, the search could be called off. Officials said Sheriff Virts plans to hold a multi-agency meeting at that point to determine long-term plans for the farm search.
Alberto Ebarado Gutierrez-Reyes, Selena’s boyfriend, is facing charges in the case.
The Wayne Post is reporting that he is in the United States illegally and has been twice deported. Records indicate ICE has lodged a detainer on him, following the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office arrest on the local charge of tampering with physical evidence.
Deputies reported that trail cameras showed Gutierrez-Reyes walking in to and out of the same woods on May 17 carrying a shovel. Investigators say he later admitted to burying Selena Hidalgo-Calderon’s body.
As of Sunday morning, he has not been charged in the death. Deputies said they found a phone believed to belong to Reyes.
The Wayne Post reported that Gutierrez-Reyes admitted to helping hide Selena’s body, but claims he did not kill her.
According to ICE, Gutierrez-Reyes is here illegally from Mexico and was returned to Mexico twice in the last two years. He was convicted in 2017 on a federal charge of illegal entry.
More than 160 searchers battled high humidity and heat as well as dense vegetation this weekend but vowed to keep searching. A State Police helicopter hovered overhead for more than two hours.
Anyone with information is urged to call 911.