Baby Hope's mother speaks out about daughter's death

NEW YORK (WABC) -- An emotional Margaritia Castillo spoke about her long-lost daughter, Angelica, the murdered toddler detectives identified earlier this month as Baby Hope, the mystery child found dumped off the Henry Hudson Parkway in 1991.

"I love her very much, I have her in my heart," said Margaritia Castillo, Angelica's mother.

Castillo claims the child's father took her when she was 14 months old and disappeared, and that she later learned Angelica and her sister were staying with a relative, Conrado Juarez.

Over the weekend, he confessed to sexually abusing and smothering the girl.

"I don't know what I would say if I had him in front of me. Why did you lie? Why didn't you tell me the truth?" Castillo said.

Castillo says she actually met with Juarez once several years ago and asked him to give the girls back.

"He told me he didn't know what had happened to the girl, she had died," Castillo said.

She says she tried to report the missing child to police but didn't understand the system.

"I was afraid they would not listen. I did not speak English," Castillo said.

It was a tip this summer on the 22nd anniversary of Angelica's death that led police to the child's killer, and her mother.

She shared her thoughts, "A lot of pain, a lot of pain and regrets to have allowed them to take her away."

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