Missing New Mexico girl Renezmae Calzada found dead after 3-day search, police say

ESPANOLA, N.M. — A New Mexico girl who had been missing since Sunday morning was found dead Wednesday, authorities said.

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According to KOB-TV, search crews discovered the body of Renezmae Calzada about noon in the Rio Grande, a Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman said. She was 5 years old.

Renezmae had been in the front yard of her Espanola home before she disappeared sometime after 9:30 a.m. Sunday, authorities said earlier this week. The girl's mother, Victoria Maestas, reported her missing about 10 hours later, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

"Malcolm Torres is the father," a 911 dispatch report read, according to the Rio Grande Sun. "Father hasn't reported the child missing and thought the (mother's) family picked her up."

In an Amber Alert issued Sunday night, the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office described Renezmae as a 4-foot-tall Hispanic girl with brown eyes and black hair. The child, who weighed about 35 pounds, was wearing a Disney "Frozen" shirt and blue shorts before she disappeared, authorities said.

Deputies detained Torres, 25, on unrelated warrants but claimed Tuesday that he isn't considered to be a suspect in the case, Albuquerque Journal reported. He remained in jail Wednesday but is not currently facing any charges related to the girl's disappearance or death, according to the newspaper.

Authorities declined to answer questions about possible suspects at a Wednesday news conference.

The Journal reported that police responded to a report of a domestic dispute involving Torres and Maestas, who also have a son together, last October. Authorities arrested Torres but later dropped the charges against him.

According to court documents, Maestas recently filed for custody, the Journal reported. The couple had been slated to appear at a November court hearing over child support, the newspaper said.

Cox Media Group