Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Meth-Smoking Woman Snatched Child From Home: Cops

Episode Date: February 25, 2026

Marina Noriega faces a custodial interference charge in Maricopa County, Arizona, after police say she took a little girl from a house where she was staying. A day after Avondale Police issued an Amber Alert, an employee at a convenience store spotted Noriega with the child. Movers with Camelback Moving company blocked the truck Noriega was driving until police arrived. Cameras recorded the entire incident. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy talks with the head of the moving company about bringing the Amber Alert to an end in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Chad Olsen https://www.facebook.com/camelbackmoving / www.camelbackmoving.com CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Did I block your truck? Huh? Did I block them? She thought. Three movers, getting ready for the day helped bring an Amber alert for a missing little girl to a safe end, and the suspect ends up in jail. Noriega, you are here because you were arrested in charges of custodial interference,

a class three felony. I go through the search for Kalani Rogers, where she was found, and I'll tell you what these movers are saying about what they did. They're all very reluctant to say this, but they're all heroes, you know. know. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ingenet Levy. A little girl who was taken from her parents in Arizona is back with them, thanks to a worker at a convenience store and some quick thinking movers. The girl

was only two years old. And what is really scary is that police say she was taken from her home by a woman who later tried to claim she was her own child. This case takes us to Arizona and a town called Avondale outside of Phoenix. On Saturday, February 21st, Just before 2 p.m. Mountain Time, Avondale police issued an amber alert for Kalani Rogers. The alert said she was last seen at her home the night before, wearing pink pajamas and braids. And the woman police said she was last seen with Marina Noriega. Noriega was described as a white female who was thin with brown hair, hazel eyes, and wearing a white shirt and pink fuzzy pants. People in Avondale, Arizona, got alerts on their phones and they were on the look at.

A photo circulated showing Noriega with Kalani in a stroller at a store. It was 6.51 a.m. on Sunday, February 24th, a man who works for Camelback Moving was sitting in one of the company's trucks enjoying his coffee. Look at the screen on your left. You'll see a silver truck pull in and park in a parking space. Now, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but the woman who got out of the truck is Marina Noriega. And she's been accused of kidnapping a little girl just hours earlier. At 6.52 a.m. look closely. Marina comes back out to the truck and opens the passenger side door. She's there for just a short time and then you see she pulls a child from the truck. Then Noriega walks back into the quick trip with the child. Again,

it seems like a normal day outside of the convenience store. It's 653 a.m. and the camelback movers, they're just hanging out outside of the moving truck. They have coffee and dough. So let's jump ahead a few minutes to 6.57 a.m. Three of the movers are hanging out in the truck after getting some stuff from the store. They're getting ready for the day. But if we jump ahead to 701 a.m., you'll hear the driver talking on the phone, but look closely at the door of the quick trip. So that I can get all the taxes should be here either Wednesday. Yeah, Wednesday or Thursday. Mesa? You can see that Marina Noriega has walked out of the quick trip with the little girl. They're back at the silver truck.

The little girl is loaded into the truck and the door closes. But then an employee from the quick trip comes out and approaches the movers. Take a picture of her and he's like looking at her. And in the thing he said the lady's wearing like pink hat. The Amber Alerted that one yesterday? Never? Yesterday? That one.

Oh, way. Yeah. Did I block your truck? Huh? Did I block them? You know, you call a cop or what? He's on the phone with the cops right now. I'm going to get their license.

For the, for the Am alert, the cops will be here quick. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. I'm about to get the license. I'm about there's a park in front of them. Just go, yeah. Stop in the firm so I can get it. Texas plate.

Texas plate, what is it? Stay there, blocking in the silver truck carrying Marina Noriega and Kalani Rogers until police arrive. And because this is an Amber Alert, plenty of police officers arrive. You can see the number of officers from another Camelback cruise cameras. Cruisers surround the truck with Texas plates. Kalani Rogers was found safe and returned. to her family. Marina Noriega was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on a custodial interference

charge she had been living with Kalani's parents, according to police. A probable cause statement claims the victims described Marina telling them that she was dropped off in Arizona from California and had nowhere to stay and no family to contact as her boyfriend or father were in jail. The victims recall Marina making spontaneous statements about her baby daddy. And when asked if she had children, she said she did, but later recanted that statement. The family also reported hearing Marina mentioning that she had a dead baby. The family thought the comments were strange, but allowed Marina to remain at the residence under the belief that Marina may have recanted personal details to protect herself around strangers. The victims indicated Marina mentioned she had been in a

car accident and had gone to the hospital. Based upon Marina's summary of her life and current circumstances, the victims allowed Marina to spend the night at their residence in Avondale, which they share with their three children, each under three years old, and their adult cousin, who was visiting and occupied the spare room. It was sometime early Saturday morning that Kalani's family says Marina Noriega left their home with their daughter. Police said they interviewed Marina Noriega and she actually claimed that Kalani was her own child. A post-Miranda interview was conducted with Marina who initially claimed the child was her biological daughter, stating the child was born in Sacramento in September of 2021, two years before the child was actually born,

and that the child had been abducted from the hospital. Marina claimed to have come to Arizona to find family and located her long-lost child coincidentally at a residence near 107th Street. Marina struggled to spell the name of the child she claimed to have birthed under the name Malina Malai, Malina, and Malini Noriega, and said she put her own father's name Alex Noriega on the birth certificate despite her father not conceiving his granddaughter. Throughout the interview, Marina provided inconsistent statements and vague details regarding the child's birth, alleged prior abduction, and how or where she located the child. Marina would not provide verifiable names, addresses, or timelines, and admitted a glass pipe

located on her person during a search incident to arrest was a pipe she used the day prior to her arrest to smoke methamphetamine during the time she had control of the child. Eventually, police say Noriega came clean and admitted that Kalani was not her child and said she did not have plans to sell her or harm her, and she didn't really have a reason for taking Kalani. All right, ma'am. Go ahead. State your name?

Marina Noriega. Marina Noriega appeared in court on that charge the day after her arrest. Thank you. All right, Mr. Garcia. Having read the form for, I do agree with Mr. Garcia that a defendant is a risk to the community. and I am going to go ahead, as I stated, and set that $250,000 cash-only appearance bond in this matter. In addition, in the event, you were able to post that cash-only appearance bond. You would be subject to additional release conditions, including electronic monitoring house arrest.

You're not to return the scene of the alleged crime. You're not to have any contact with any alleged victim, complainant, or witness. You're not to have any contact with any minors. There are no exceptions to that. You are not to possess any weapons, no drugs without a valid prescription, and no alcohol. The prosecutor also pointed out that Noriega, as I mentioned, had used drugs while she was with Kalani. Yes, Your Honor. I'm sorry.

Just to circle back to the drug testing issue, I did it once over on the form four. I did find the basis for our recommendation. Your Honor, toward the end of the form four, it does appear that the defendant admitted that a glass pipe was located on her person during the search. And she admitted to using smoking methamphetamine the day before. And that was during the time she had control of the child. Thank you. Marina Noriega's bail was set at $250,000 with the conditions the judge listed about not having contact with the victims. But let's circle back to those movers from Camelback Moving, who boxed in Noriega at the

Quick Trip so she couldn't leave with Kalani. They played a pivotal role in bringing this Amber Alert to an end. So I'd like to bring in Chad Olson. He is the president and founder of Camelback Moving. And his employees are really a big part of this story. So Chad, thanks for joining me. Talk to me a little bit about what happened on Sunday when your guys. I guess we're out on a job and they are asked for help by this employee at the gas station.

Well, I would say it really started Saturday night because we all received this Amber Alert on our phones. They came in, you know, anything from any time from Saturday afternoon. I got mine at one in the morning. So, you know, many people were aware and alerted to this situation with this little girl before Sunday even happened. But, you know, we run seven days a week here. So we dispatch 15, 20 trucks, and they're part of the regular routine as they stop at the

QT gas station to get their coffee and their energy drinks and their donuts in the morning before going to our client's homes. So we had eight movers, three crews, so three trucks essentially all at the this QT and we're familiar with the security guard that works there. So when we, upon arriving, he had indicated to a few of the men that he thought that the Amber Alert victim and the suspect had just walked in and went to the bathroom. So our, a couple of our gentlemen went and grabbed, casually grabbed the license plate, took a photo of the license plate.

I think the security guard was a little reluctant to walk directly outside because they were parked right at the front door. And it might have, if they were, she'd already gotten back in the vehicle. So he didn't want to alarm her and have her leave before the police arrived. But he got on the phone with the police. We grabbed the plate. And then some of our movers were talking as we had trucks parked behind her. and they decided to that this was the you know they brought it up on their phone they're like yeah look at even the same pink pajamas that's her and they decided to take action uh while eating their breakfast

and slowly roll the truck up and block her in from from leaving uh we had a second truck then as well um get in behind her but uh she was essentially trapped between between the building and our truck at that point. They then kind of commenced to have like a water cooler morning conversation where just, you know, they were talking, you know, casually talking, trying to be nonchalant about it. I don't think she was too suspicious until the very end at the dash cam footage. You can see her kind of glancing back and maybe getting a little annoyed like she's wanting to leave. But that's right when the, you know, in that two minutes, that's right when the police got there.

that's crazy. And so your guys, I mean, they did the right thing. I mean, they did what anybody would do, I think. And so how do you become aware that your crew or your crews become involved in this? Because, you know, they're just doing what they do every day. Everybody involved in this is just kind of living their lives. And they become embroiled in this, this abduction case. Yeah, I became aware when I got in a few hours later in the morning. I was alerted by my management staff. And I immediately was like, I went down and talked to the security guard. He's, you know, they're all very reluctant to say this, but they're all heroes, you know, like. And the Amber Alert system worked. There's so much good news here for what could have been a terrible, terrible situation. But, you know, as a company, you know, many of these employees are long-term

employees, some of them are newer. But as, you know, a company, we have core values like giving back to the community and being proactive. But this is a little different than that. Every, you know, this is a bunch of dads in the clock. And, you know, you can, you know, you may be able to hear children in my office right now. You know, we, we were babysitting kids, you know, for some of the interviews we did yesterday. We're a family company. And this was a bunch of men that were like, if this was my kid, we would, you know, if this is the wrong person, we'll apologize. But we don't think it's the wrong person.

And let's block them in. And, you know, we were eight deep there. And, you know, so I don't, you know, I don't think this. This was like a fighter flight type of dangerous involvement, but they got involved and did, you know, which anybody could do. You know, it's a great lesson for citizens. You know, you don't, you know, a small action can have a huge result. But here's the thing.

Not everybody might get involved. And the thing that really gets me is that, you know, we don't know if Kalani could have been in some danger. We don't know how this woman could have reacted. So, you know, the actions of the people around her could be very important. And it sounds like they did everything right. You know, the authorities were called. They blocked her in so she couldn't leave. That prevents her from possibly fleeing with the child and getting into some type of, you know, possible pursuit with police. So it sounds like everything worked, you know, as well as it could and as perfectly as it could under those circumstances.

Yeah, that's kind of what I think would have happened had we not done anything. Like it would have been her probably leaving about a minute before the police arrived. So there would have been a, you know, a lot of, you know, potentially a car chase or something like that, really endangering the little girl. So yeah, we couldn't be more proud. you know, today they're teaching me. You know, I mean, it's, it's really a testament to their character. And just, you know, the dash cam is really interesting that, you know,

we have these Samsara cameras front and backfacing. So we are able to capture, you know, all the footage is from our dash cams from the three trucks, all the police pulling up, her getting out of the vehicle with the child. But the internal dash cam is really interesting as well because it shows the entire conversation and the technology working. I have one employee on his phone on a Snapchat call with his girlfriend. She's telling them, you know, here's the picture. Like, look at, you know, is this her? He's showing the driver on his phone.

The other employees already got the plate. He's on the driver's side window saying, Let's just block them in. Should we block them in? You know, and my driver's eating his donut just like, I'm, you know, we'll block them in. You know, we'll apologize for this later. So it was really just interesting to kind of see how the whole thing naturally formulated. Those dash cameras that you have, those in-car cameras are amazing because it really does kind of tell the story in real time, as you mentioned.

Are those just kind of like a safety feature that you have in there? Why do you have those? 100%. We have an entire fleet of vehicles out throughout the, you know, Arizona and across the country on a daily basis. So having those are a few reasons. So one, there's just, there's AI in the cab. So if a driver was tired and looking, you know, it will, it will sound an alarm within the cab. and also notify us in the office that we have a driver alertness issue. If there's cleanliness as well, if they're smoking or vaping, we get alerted.

But harsh breaking, excessive speed notices, like they're, you know, it's insurance is big on it, but just anybody who's conscious of safety. And then just accidents having the documentation. And we've had those cameras for about four years. And I think we've been exonerated in about five small fender benders because of them. So it's, I mean, they've paid for themselves many times over. I want to go back to your employees being kind of shy about this. I mean, you've called them heroes.

And I think they are heroes along with the guy at the gas station. So, you know, are they just feeling kind of shy and like they just kind of did what a dad would do? and, you know, are they kind of just humble guys? I mean, because I feel like they deserve some recognition. They absolutely do. We will be doing, you know, some special stuff for them here within the company. But yeah, exactly. You know, when we asked who wants to, who would participate in interviews,

I already knew the answer on a few of them. And then they're just, you know, like, no, like we just want to, I want to go to work. I'm just glad that she's home safe was kind of the universal answer that we got. We got a few gentlemen that were great and kind of did some interviews with this yesterday. But, you know, their dads as well. So they've got, you know, kids that are sick at home right now. You know, there's another family emergency going on.

So, you know, I've kind of become a little of the voice and face for them in this instance. But, you know, the one thing we've talked about is that, you know, there were eight gentlemen there is maybe doing like a week's paid vacation for them, kind of giving them the gift of time with their family back, I think. It seems right. But we're still working something up and then seeing as well, just kind of waiting at the city or the state has any, you know, thing that they would like, you know, award or a commendation for their, you know, choosing to get participating. in this alert. Yeah, I think they probably will get some sort of recognition from the city. Chad Olson, thank you so much for joining me and sharing your story and sharing the story of your employees.

We really appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you as well for helping getting the word out. This Amber Alert system works. I know I'm going to be paying way more attention to it the next time I see it, although, you know, I already was, and was aware of what this was. but this is a real feel-good story. Thank God she got home safe.

Yeah, thank goodness for that. Thank you. So Marina Noriega, she has a prior record and convictions for shoplifting, obstructing an officer and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize. There's no word yet on whether the prosecutor will add additional charges at grand jury. Right now, she remains in the Maricopa County Jail. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy.

Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.