Foster child taken at gunpoint

A 3-year-old foster girl whose biological mother had threatened to take her away was kidnapped at gunpoint Sunday night, North Las Vegas police said.

Authorities, including the FBI, were searching for Carla Espinosa-Alvarez after a masked couple tricked their way into the home near Commerce Street and Lone Mountain Road and took the girl.

Once inside the home on the 100 block of Rosa Rosales Court, the masked man held the foster mother at gunpoint while the masked woman searched the house, found Carla and carried her away, police said.

Carla had been living at the home for seven months.

Clark County Department of Family Services spokeswoman Christine Skorupski could not release details about Carla's foster case, citing confidentiality rules.

In a statement, she said the agency was "very concerned for the well-being of this young, vulnerable child. We appreciate any information from the public that will assist North Las Vegas Police Department in locating Carla quickly and safely."

Investigators want to speak to Carla's biological mother, Maria Espinosa-Alvarez, a 30-year-old Mexican national. She is thought to live in Mexico and had threatened to take Carla from the foster home, police said.

Authorities notified other law enforcement agencies of the kidnapping, including those along the Mexican border, said officer Chrissie Coon, a police spokeswoman.

They did not issue an Amber Alert because they lacked information about the suspects, such as a license plate number, which is required to send the alert, she said. That could change if investigators develop more specific information, she said.

Investigators had not ruled out the kidnapping being committed by someone unrelated to the biological mother, Coon said.

"We really have to keep an open mind when it comes to this type of investigation," she said.

Outside her home Monday evening, the visibly shaken foster mother said she could not talk about what had happened.

Neighbors along the cul-de-sac sprinkled with vacant homes said they rarely saw the foster family and heard nothing the night of the kidnapping until the police showed up.

The two kidnappers were Hispanic, about 5 feet 6 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. They both spoke fluent Spanish, wore all black and had brown masks or bandanas over their faces.

The girl is Hispanic, 3 feet 2 inches tall and 50 pounds with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Four of her top front teeth are silver-capped and visible when she smiles. Carla was last seen wearing a pink, short-sleeved pajama shirt and pink pajama pants.

A white luxury sedan with dark tinted windows was seen in the area just before the kidnapping, police said.

Anyone with information about the case can call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.