Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo, 16, died on Friday, Feb. 13, from stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, according to a statement from the family's spokesperson. Torres Hidalgo had been diagnosed with the rare and aggressive form of soft tissue cancer in December 2024.
The teenager was undergoing cancer treatment and had been home visiting her family for the weekend when her father, Ruben Torres Maldonado, was arrested in October 2025 at a Home Depot store in suburban Chicago, a GoFundMe page set up for the family states. He was detained during the Trump administration's "Operation Midway Blitz," a major immigration enforcement campaign that brought a surge of federal agents to the Chicago area.
Following his arrest, Torres Hidalgo posted a video on social media calling for his release. She described her father as a hardworking immigrant who cared for her younger brother while she stayed at the hospital for treatment.