A Texas trooper is warning Americans to reconsider traveling to Mexico after three women went missing as they crossed the border to sell clothes at a flea market.
Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told travelers gearing up for spring break to use caution when planning vacations to the popular travel destination.
“Our department is urging anyone traveling to Mexico, especially spring breakers, to avoid those areas because it is too dangerous right now with the increase in violence and kidnappings in Mexico,” Lt. Olivarez said. Fox news. “I can’t say enough to those who are thinking about traveling to Mexico, especially for spring break… to avoid those areas as much as possible.”
The alert comes after two sisters Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48, both from Peñitas, and their boyfriend, Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, went missing on Feb. 24.
Officials said they drove a green mid-1990s Chevy Silverado to a flea market in the town of Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon state — about three hours from the border — and never returned. Peñitas is located just a few hundred meters from the Rio Grande River.
It comes after the highly publicized case in which four Americans were kidnapped by a cartel after traveling into the country for a tummy tuck. Their abduction was caught on video last week and received a lot of attention. But the fate of the three women, who have not been heard from for about two weeks, remains a mystery.
Lieutenant Chris Olivarez (pictured) “urges anyone traveling to Mexico, especially spring breakers, to avoid those areas as it is too dangerous right now with the increase in violence and kidnappings”
Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48; both Peñitas and their boyfriend, Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, (pictured) went missing on Feb. 24
They crossed into Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market three hours from the border (photo: Maritza and Marina)
The sisters’ cousin, Ludy Arredondo, wrote on Facebook that they “don’t have any news” [and] the authorities say nothing,” as she and others continue to pray for their safe return.
“They have no leads,” she wrote. “Please don’t leave us alone.
‘My cousins and their friend are women, workers, responsible, mothers of their children, noble, simple women, they are WOMEN WHO WORK. PLEASE post friends [and] share,” she begged.
The last to hear from the women was one of their husbands who spoke to her on the phone while she was traveling in Mexico. He later reported them missing after becoming concerned when he couldn’t reach her afterwards, Peñitas police chief Roel Bermea said.
“Because he couldn’t get in touch that weekend, he came in that Monday and reported it to us,” Bermea said.
Prosecutor’s office officials said they have been investigating the woman’s disappearance since Monday. Aside from that, officials in the US and Mexico haven’t said much about their pursuit of the three.
The FBI said Friday it knows two sisters from Peñitas, a small Texas border town near McAllen, and their friend are missing. Bermea said their families have been in contact with Mexican authorities, who are investigating their disappearance.
The three women are among the surprising 550 Americans reported missing in Mexico. according to public records. This is a small fraction of the country’s total of 112,000 missing persons – and is a small percentage of the millions of US citizens who travel to Mexico each year for vacations and work.
But many relatives of the still-missing Americans wonder why their loved ones haven’t been given a higher priority by Washington, like the recent kidnapping.
Bermea said the women traveled in a green mid-1990s Chevy Silverado to a flea market in the town of Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon state (pictured Maritza)
Prosecutor’s office officials said they have been investigating the woman’s disappearance since Monday
The three women are just one of hundreds reported missing in the country who are still missing. 550 Americans are reported missing (photo: Marina Rios)
The husband of one of the women spoke to her on the phone while she was traveling in Mexico, but became concerned when he couldn’t reach her afterwards (Photo: US-Mexico border)
Lisa Torres, whose son Robert disappeared at the age of 21, became angry when she watched the four friends’ reporting.
“I am so angry that I couldn’t sleep thinking about how my US government in Matamoros handled the kidnappings,” she wrote. Twitter. “This just confirms that my US government can help, and they didn’t in my son’s case. WHY?’
A lawyer, Geovanni Barrios, whose son was kidnapped in Reynosa at the age of 17, told the Washington PostWe see that when the US government makes strong statements, there are results. But not only four Americans have disappeared in Mexico. We don’t see it [the US government] making these statements about the hundreds of other missing Americans.”
While many families still hope that their loved ones will reappear, they are outraged that they did not receive the massive search and government attention that the four Americans did. For most of the country’s 112,000 missing, the only ones looking for them are their desperate relatives.
Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee and Eric James Williams both survived the experience. Shaeed Hakim Woodard and Zindell Zaquille Mckinley Brown were murdered by the cartel
Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel’s Scorpions Group were left on a street in Matamoros and accused by the criminal organization of being behind the kidnapping of four Americans who had traveled to the country for an operation
Authorities lack the manpower, equipment and training – and things are so bad that they are not even able to identify tens of thousands of bodies that have been found.
The four kidnapped Americans were caught in a shootout with a drug cartel in the border town of Matamoros, and video footage showed them being taken away in a pickup truck. The two survivors were found Tuesday in a wooden cabin near the Gulf Coast.
This week’s massive search for the four kidnapped Americans involved squads of Mexican soldiers and National Guard troops.
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