Missing South Florida girl, 8, found safe in Louisiana in midst of ongoing custody battle between parents

MIAMI — An eight-year-old girl who was reported missing out of South Florida on Friday night has been found in Louisiana amid an ongoing custody battle between her parents.

Police shared in an Instagram post on Saturday afternoon that Liah Meza, from Homestead — a city about 40 miles south of Miami — is now safe with her father Christian Meza.

“We appreciate the community’s vigilance and swift action in helping to locate her,” the agency said. “Thank you to everyone who shared the alert and remained on the lookout. Your support made a difference.”

According to the initial report sent out by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Meza was last seen near the 40th block of NW 1st Ave. in Homestead and believed to be in the company of the girl’s mother Yailen Roche and the mother’s boyfriend Geovany Maresma-Burcet, both 38.

FDLE reported that the trio was traveling to Lafayette, Louisiana in a 2021 white Honda Pilot.

However, Roche and Maresma-Burcet reached out to CBS News Miami before police provided an update because they claimed that Meza was not missing but rather on vacation with them in Louisiana. Roche said they woke up surprised on Saturday morning when they found pictures of them on the news.

“We got in contact with our lawyers,” she told CBS News Miami. “They’re in the process of checking what’s happening because I have not gotten any notification of any… and they’re checking everything to put everything in place.”

CBS News Miami also reached out to Dina Shehata-Hujber, the lawyer for Meza’s father, who said “[Meza] is on her way home to Florida.”

Shehata-Hujber added in a statement that there is ongoing litigation related to the child, saying that there was a court order issued on Thursday, ordering law enforcement “to locate and return the child to Florida and placing her in dad’s sole custody until further order of the court.”

No further details related to Meza’s disappearance and finding were released at this time.