AUSTIN -- After 12 years, Greg Allen is desperate to be reunited with his daughter.
Sabrina Allen disappeared in 2002 when she was 5 years old. Investigators believe her non-custodial mother, Dara Llorens, kidnapped her and fled to Mexico.
Over the past 12 years, Sabrina's father traveled to Mexico numerous times, searching for his daughter. On Tuesday, Allen received life-changing news: Sabrina, now 17, had been found and was coming home.
"I'm so grateful she's back in Texas," Allen said at a press conference Wednesday. However, the long-separated father and daughter have not been reunited yet.
"I haven't gotten to see her yet," Allen said. "My understanding is that she's been subjected to intense parental alienation, and we have a long road ahead of us."
Allen said Sabrina has been manipulated into thinking he is a "bad guy, a wife beater and a child molester." Allen said the manipulation started even before Llorens allegedly ran away with their daughter.
Investigators said they started monitoring Llorens and Sabrina two weeks ago after receiving a tip they were in an apartment in Estafeta Tlaxcala, about and hour and a half south of Mexico City.
"She was not living a regular life," Allen said. "She was not in school and apparently rarely left her small apartment."
Llorens was taken into police custody on Tuesday. Llorens was booked into the Travis County Jail on Wednesday on an aggravated kidnapping charge. Her bond is set at $300,000.
Sabrina arrived in Houston Tuesday night. Officials said she is in good physical health but is meeting with a therapist at an undisclosed location.
Allen said when Sabrina arrived in Texas, she was "allowed to sleep in," she went shopping and met with a therapist.
"She hasn't been allowed to be a kid. She had all that taken away," Allen said. "It's heart-wrenching. Just some time to relax and see, maybe this is going to be OK."
Allen remains hopeful that his daughter will come home and become part of his family again.
"I just want to know her," Allen said. "I remember who she was, and she's a completely different person now. I just hope that there's nuggets of memory in there . . . I like to think that the difficulties we're dealing with now are just temporary."
