Texas Woman Was Paid To Kidnap 2 Kids From Aurora Home: Police

AURORA, IL — A Texas woman is accused of abducting two children Thursday in Aurora, with plans to deliver their to their father in Mexico, police said Friday afternoon.

Cindy Sanchez, a 47-year-old woman from Fort Worth, was charged with two felony counts each of kidnapping, child abduction and unlawful restraint.

The children's father, who does not have legal custody of them, paid Sanchez to bring them to him in Mexico, crossing the Texas border, Aurora police said.

Aurora police were notified at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday of a possible kidnapping of two children — ages 11 and 13 — in the 500 block of Rosewood Avenue. Officials said an "unknown" woman appeared at the residence where the kids were staying with family, and said she "needed to take [them] on their mother's behalf to her location out of state," according to a news release.

The woman left with the kids, and the family later learned their mother "never permitted anyone to take her children," according to police.

The Chicago Police Department was called to assist in the investigation and later found the woman and two kids at Chicago Midway International Airport. Aurora police arrived at the airport and helped reunite the kids with their family, police said.

The kids were not harmed, officials said.

Sanchez and a relative of the children's father were positively identified and taken into custody, according to police. Asked if charges are pending against the father, spokesperson Jay Leonardi told Patch, "That element is still being investigated."

Sanchez is in custody at the Kane County jail awaiting a pre-trial hearing.