Missing N.C. Girl Returns After 4 Years

After waiting nearly four years to find out her missing daughter was OK, Wanda Pevia was content to have the circumstances surrounding the disappearance remain mysterious a while longer.

"I just want to hold her and my grandbabies," Pevia said Wednesday night, just before she was reunited with 15-year-old Dana, her only child.

Dana arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport with two children she has had since she disappeared: 3-year-old Sandra and 3-month-old Francisco.

Dana, who disappeared in June 1999, went to the U.S. Consulate General's office in Guadalajara last week; the reason is unclear. Consulate officials contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which contacted the Hoke County sheriff's office.

Pevia had all but given up hope when a sheriff's official called March 18 to say her daughter was safe.

"Me and my mother were together and both of us was hollerin' and praisin' the Lord," she said.

As soon as Pevia hung up the phone, she headed to the sheriff's office, which arranged a phone call between mother and daughter. They've spoken on the phone every day since then.

Before her disappearance, Dana was last seen in her hometown of Raeford as she walked to a bus stop just after 6 a.m. on June 4, 1999. Dana, then 11, was in the sixth grade at West Hoke Middle School.

When she didn't return home from school, Pevia began calling relatives and asked children who rode Dana's bus if they had seen her. The family received tips over the years that Dana had been spotted, but they turned out to be false.

"I didn't know if my child was alive or dead," Pevia said. "Those three years and nine months were total chaos."

Investigators are searching for the man they believe took Dana to Mexico. Warrants have been issued charging Hector Majarro Frausto, 22, with kidnapping and statutory rape.

Frausto lived across the street from the family until the day after Dana's disappearance, and the girl's aunt frequently gave him a ride to work, Pevia said. She said Dana was friends with Frausto, but declined to elaborate on their relationship.

Pevia believes her daughter was abducted.

"She's never been a problem child," she said. "I've never had any problem with her leaving home or anything."

At the airport reunion on Wednesday, mother and daughter embraced, tears streaming down both of their faces. They walked hand in hand through the terminal while about a half-dozen relatives cared for the children.

Pevia went to a podium to thank those who supported her while her daughter was missing. Dana didn't speak.

Neither authorities nor Pevia know details of Dana's life in Mexico. Sheriff's officials instructed Pevia not to ask her daughter any questions and to wait until the girl volunteers information.

"She hasn't told me and I haven't asked," Pevia said. "All I know is that she's coming home and she's all right, and that's all that matters."