David Amaya Barrick was abducted as a child and taken to Mexico by his father. 35 years later, Barrick lost all of his money as he made the harrowing trek north across the border in hopes of reuniting with his mother.
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Barrick is a U.S. born man and therefore has U.S. citizenship. When he was arrested by Border Patrol agents last month, they first did not believe him when he explained to them he was a citizen. Border Patrol eventually freed him and contacted his mother for the first time since the 1979 abduction. Barrick is currently staying at Iglesia de Cristo Minesterios Llamada Final where church officials are working on a way to reunite him with his mother who resides in Wisconsin. "We are going to find a way to get him to his family," said Pastor Freddy Rivas. "The grace of God brought him to our shelter and the grace of God will get him to his family."
35 years ago Barrick was kidnapped by his father and taken to Mexico where his paternal grandparents cared for him. He only saw his father a few times and studied music in the town of Monterrey. He decided to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border with other undocumented immigrants and was arrested about a mile east of the Pacific Ocean.
Barrick told Border patrol agents that he was born in a Chicago hospital and how he had been beaten and robbed of all his money and identification before entering the U.S. The agents looked into the story and were able to locate his birth certificate and contact his mother. Barrick relates, “When the Border Patrol agents told me they found my mother, I could not believe it. I started crying.” The two will have to use a translator as Barrick only speaks Spanish, but the moment they have both been waiting for 35 years is finally here thanks to the generosity of strangers.
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