Robbie Romero Case DNA Results: Teen Is Not Missing Boy

Robert Terrezas claimed he was long-lost boy, Robbie Romero.

ByABC News
September 16, 2011, 12:36 PM

Sept. 16, 2011— -- The teenager claiming to be Robbie Romero is not the missing boy, after all, according to DNA results released today.

Nineteen-year-old Robert Terrezas' DNA did not match with Romero, who disappeared in June 2000 at age 7, police said.

Terrezas met with Romero's mother, Evelyn, and his brother Ricky earlier this week, and told to police that he was Robbie.

Evelyn and Ricky Romero remained unsure whether the teen was the little boy who went missing while walking home from a friend's house one summer afternoon.

The police have said that Romero's disappearance is still an open case, though his older brother, Ronnie Romero, was the only person of interest in the case and died in 2008. Investigators classified the disappearance as a missing persons case and a homicide, but a body was never found.

Evelyn Romero told ABCNews.com earlier today that she was being cautious about raising her hopes that Robert Terrezas was her missing son.

On Wednesday, police learned that Terrezas was claiming he was Robbie Romero.

Terrezas made the eerie claim to Ricky Romero and told him he goes by Robbie's name, according to ABC affiliate KOAT.

Ricky Romero brought Terrezas to the Romeros' home, where he met with Robbie's mother, Evelyn Romero. She then notified the police.

The police took a swab of saliva from Terrezas for DNA testing on Wednesday night, according to Santa Fe detective Lt. Luis Carlos.

Evelyn Romero said the wait for the DNA test results was trying.

"It is [hard], especially for Robbie's brothers and sisters, who have a lot of anxiety just not knowing," she said.

Yolanda Almendariz, Terrezas' mother, told a local news station that the teen was not Robbie Romero, and was born in Mexico and moved with Almendariz to Utah years ago.

"This is my son, this is my son," said Almendariz, who showed local news station KOB childhood photos of the boy. "Friends call my son Robert Romero because they have the same face."