A Texas man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to kidnap a 3-year-old girl from an Alabama home in 2021, thanks in part to a swift response by Mississippi law enforcement.

Steven Andrew Holguin, 42, of El Paso, admitted to helping co-conspirator Elis Salgado-Galindo abduct the toddler from a Birmingham residence on November 4, 2021. Authorities say the pair planned to take the child to her father in Mexico.

An Amber Alert was issued, and law enforcement along the Alabama-Mississippi border were alerted. That evening, Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies stopped Holguin’s vehicle. The toddler was safely recovered, and Holguin and Salgado-Galindo were taken into custody.

A Rankin County deputy identified the child from the Amber Alert and sent a photo to Birmingham detectives. The child’s mother confirmed it was her daughter.

Holguin, previously convicted in Texas for conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants, now faces federal sentencing for kidnapping conspiracy. Salgado-Galindo, unlawfully in the U.S., was turned over to ICE in 2021.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Birmingham Police Department, Alabama state police, and multiple Mississippi agencies.