Missing Tucson child safe, mom under arrest

A Tucson toddler is back in state custody after her mother allegedly went on the run with the girl during a supervised visit with a state child protection worker.

One-year-old Jeannette Grado, who’s been on the Tucson Police Department’s “Missing/Endangered Child” list for the past eight weeks, was returned to the city Tuesday, “unharmed and in good condition,” a TPD news release said.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety has custody of the girl, who was snatched away Jan. 28 as her mother visited the child at the Murphy-Wilmot Library under a child protection worker’s supervision.

The search effort, led by TPD’s child physical abuse unit, ended earlier Tuesday when authorities tracked mother and child to an undisclosed location in Mexico.

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U.S. Marshals and Mexican authorities assisted TPD in the effort, the news release said.

The mother, 38-year-old Jeannette McCann Lopez, crossed back into Arizona with the child at the Nogales port of entry.

She was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on afelony arrest warrant for custodial interference.