FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -
Three American boys in Mexico - caught in the middle of a possible human trafficking and kidnapping investigation - won't be coming back to the United States any time soon.
Even though the three boys are American and several family members are trying to bring them back to the Valley, a Mexican judge decided Monday they will stay in protective custody in Mexico for now.
This all started last week, when two of the boys were found, bruised and alone, in front of a convenience store in Guadalajara.
Romeo and Damian Diaz Martinez told Azteca Noticias last week, "mean people" kidnapped them from their grandma's house then dropped them off in front of the store in Guadalajara.
The boys said they are from Fresno, but their mother dropped them off at their grandma's house in Mexico 7 months ago.
The two boys, and their teenage brother Michael, were placed in protective custody as police are looking into whether the kids are victims of human trafficking.
Azteca Noticias is reporting what came out of a Mexican Court hearing Monday - the boys were brought to Mexico legally, they were legally adopted in the United States, and the 'grandma' in Mexico is a relative of the adoptive parents.
The boys' biological parents lost custody of the boys a decade ago.
A Fresno family adopted them.
The boys' biological mother, says she trusted the adoptive mother.
"When I met her, I thought she was a really great mother, and a really great person, and kindhearted. I would never believe this would be happening to my children," said Jennifer Groomes, the boys' biological mother who lives in Stockton, California.
Now, she wants her kids back.
The question remains, why did the adoptive mother leave the boys in Mexico and is anyone guilty of a crime?
"I believe she dropped them off and left them there with somebody with here or her husband's family. Because she is stressed out. Not able to handle the kids all at one time, because she has more than just my three sons, and went through a divorce," said Groomes.
We're told the boys will remain in protective custody in Mexico until police sort out the case and figure out if they really were kidnapped or are victims of human trafficking.
Both of the boys' biological parents are now in the process of appealing with state officials, to get their parental rights back.
They're trying to get the boys back in the U.S. as soon as possible.
And they hope once this is all over, the boys will be re-united with their biological families.
