Unexpected Encounter
A mother's heart was broken after learning that her ten-day-old child had died in a home fire.
Six years later, she spotted the kid in the most unexpected of circumstances. Every tiny detail of the story is so far out of imagination that it looks like a movie plot.
House On Fire
It was the December of 1997 when Luzaida Cuevas’s house caught fire. This was horrifying because Cuevas’s 10-day-old baby girl was inside the house.
Firemen arrived at the location and they tried their best to set off the fire. Once the fire was down, they went in. What they found inside was devastating.
Unacceptable Truth
They came out and declared that the baby had died. For Cuevas, it felt like the end of the world. She couldn’t believe it. She argues every which way to prove that it could not have been possible.
And her suspicious were not exactly random. She had her doubts well placed and well how could a mother accept that her baby had just died out of nowhere.
Questions
Firemen claimed that the baby's corpse had been devoured by the flames and that no remnants could be found. Her mother, on the other hand, remained sceptical.
Why was the baby's cot empty as she dashed through the smoke to save the child? Why was the bedroom window open on such a chilly night outside? Why weren't there any remains?
At The Birthday Party
Years passed by and the case became cold. Cuevas had to painfully accept that her daughter was no more.
It stayed the same until a fateful evening 6 years later when Cuevas attended a birthday party of some friend. What she encountered here will change her life?
Her Own Dimples
It was a dimple on a child's cheek that made the mother draw breath. When Luzaida Cuevas was observing a girl playing at a birthday celebration, something clicked.
What she saw in front of her was her own face, her own dimples - the kid might be her daughter, the baby she was told had died six years previously.
DNA Testing
Cuevas called her over and informed her she had bubble gum caught in her hair and that she was going to fix it. She quickly took out five strands, wrapped them in a napkin, and placed them in a plastic bag.
She had learned the tactic from detective shows and understood that in order to prove her gut sense, she would need to obtain a DNA sample.
Confirmation Of Doubts
Tests confirmed her intuition: the tiny girl known as Aaliyah was, in reality, Delimar Vera. And, just as the 31-year-old had thought, the infant who was reported to have died in a fire when he was just 10 days old had been alive the entire time.
Now the only question was how did this happen. What really transpired 6 years earlier?
The Culprit
Investigation restarted and it was found that the person behind the incident 6 years earlier was none other than a close relative.
It was Carolyn Correa, 42, Delimar's father's cousin by marriage.
Intent
She was a frequent visitor to the family home. On the day of the incident, she snuck into the house and stole the infant from her bedroom and set the house on fire.
The intent behind arson was to destroy any traces that could lead the crime back to her. And it did work for six long years.
Raising The Kid
Correa is suspected of taking the infant a few miles across the state line to Willingboro, New Jersey, and pretending to her relatives that the kid was her own.
She named her daughter Aaliyah after the singer, sent her to private school, and trained her to be an actress and beauty pageant princess.
Hunch
At the time of the alleged death of Delimar, no death certificate was ever issued because the body was not found.
Cuevas admitted during a conversation that she had a hunch Delimar was still alive. All of her suspicions, however, were disregarded as baseless worries.
Reclaiming The Daughter
She wanted to start an inquiry, but the cost of hiring attorneys prevented her from doing so. Cuevas, on the other hand, was willing to go to any extent to reclaim her daughter.
On January 24, during a children's birthday celebration, she told a friend that she was certain the young girl was Delimar, her kid. "When I see her, I saw that she was my daughter. I want to hug her. I want to run with her," she told the American media.
Something Inside
Cuevas sought the assistance of a local politician in order to substantiate her case. Angel Cruz, a state lawmaker, listened to Cuevas' narrative for an hour and a half but found it difficult to comprehend.
He was sceptical, but "something inside" made him believe that this bizarre story may be true.
Questions Unanswered
Cruz contacted the cops, and Correa was given a DNA test, which revealed that Aaliyah Hernandez was, in fact, Delimar. The kid was taken away from her when Correa arrived to provide a second DNA sample.
Correa was arrested and released on $1 million bonds, leaving many issues unanswered. Questions such as how Correa's friends and relatives trusted her narrative for so long?
The Fake Mommy
Delimar sobbed and wailed as she was removed from Correa for the first time. According to Leslie Gomez, the assistant district attorney, Correa remarked, "Goodbye, this is the last time you'll see Mommy."
Delimar was subsequently placed in the care of a foster family for the time being.
You Are My Mother
Lawyers said that when she first met her true mother, the child hid beneath a table and sprang up exclaiming, "Surprise!" Cuevas questioned the small girl, "Do you know who I am?"
The little girl answered, "You are my mother." Cuevas received a hug and kiss, and her daughter sat in her lap. She received the moment she had hoped for six years ago.
Charges For Arrest
Carolyn Correa, a woman acting as Delimar's mother, was arrested and charged with arson, assault, and kidnapping once the DNA findings were released.
She was accused of stealing Delimar from her bed and setting fire to Cuevas' house to cover up her crime.
Reunion
American social services urged that the family reunion be a long process, but the state governor determined that the kid should be returned to her real family "as quickly as possible."
The happy parents eventually organised a reunion, and it was everything they had hoped for. Angel Cruz, a Philadelphia-area representative, said Cuevas was overjoyed to meet the kid.
Identification
Child experts feel the transition will be difficult for the girl, who has left behind her own home and family.
Her parents will try to ease any anxiety and uncertainty by identifying her as Aaliyah Hernandez, the name she was given by her accused abductor.