DNA confirms Mexico girl's ID after US custody mix-up

MORELIA - A Mexican teenager was closer Thursday to traveling to Texas with her long-lost mother after DNA tests confirmed her identity, ending a custody drama that sent the wrong girl to Houston.

Alondra Diaz Garcia, 13, and her mother Dorotea Garcia must now wait for a judge in the western state of Michoacan to settle the custody saga on Friday before they can leave, an official in the regional prosecutor's office told AFP.

The judge, Cinthia Elodia Mercado, was waiting for the DNA results to avoid another embarrassing mix-up after she ordered the wrong girl sent to the United States in April.

The case captivated Mexico after a video emerged of Alondra Luna, 14, being dragged out of her school screaming by police in the central state of Guanajuato.

Luna spent four days in Houston, returning home after DNA tests conducted in Texas proved she was the wrong Alondra. Both she and her parents had told the Michoacan judge she was not Alondra Diaz Garcia.

Dorotea Garcia had identified the wrong black-haired girl because she shared a scar between the eyebrows with her real daughter.

The real Alondra and her mother had an emotional reunion on Tuesday, seeing each other for the first time since the girl's father took her to Mexico eight years ago.

The father, Reynaldo Diaz, brought the girl to her aunt's house in Michoacan this week so she could finally be reunited with her mother.

Dorotea Garcia said she would withdraw charges against her ex-husband at their daughter's request.

Michoacan prosecutors and the National Human Rights Commission have opened separate investigations into the actions of authorities after the wrong Alondra was sent to Texas.