Three Texas women are missing two weeks after they disappeared while traveling in Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market near the country’s wealthiest city.
Sisters Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48, and their friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, disappeared in Mexico on February 24 after traveling from Peñitas, the small Texas border town where they lived .
The women drove to a flea market in the Mexican town of Montemorelos, about three hours from their home in Peñitas. Missing posters from Mexican authorities indicate that the women were Mexican nationals residing in the United States.
The FBI has since opened an investigation into her disappearance, while US authorities have warned the spring breakers not to travel to the country amid a recent spate of cartel-related kidnappings.
It comes after the high-profile case in which four Americans were kidnapped by a cartel after traveling to the country for a tummy tuck. Her kidnapping was caught on video last week and drew an avalanche of attention.
Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48; Both Peñitas and her friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, (pictured) went missing on February 24
They drove to Mexico to sell clothes at the flea market three hours from the border (pictured: Maritza and Marina)
These are the current US government travel advisories for Mexico. Only two states — Yucatan and Campeche — are completely counsel-free
Officials said the three women traveled in a green mid-1990s Chevy Silverado and never returned. Your home in Peñitas is just a few hundred meters from the Rio Grande River.
The last to hear from the women was one of her husbands, who called her while she was in Mexico. He later reported her missing after becoming concerned when he couldn’t reach her afterwards, Peñitas Police Chief Roel Bermea said.
The sisters’ cousin, Ludy Arredondo, wrote on Facebook that they “didn’t have a single message [and] the authorities say nothing,” while she and others continue to pray for her safe return.
“They have no clues,” she wrote. “Please don’t leave us alone.
“My cousins and their friends are women, working women, responsible mothers of their children, noble, simple women, they are WOMEN WHO GO TO WORK. PLEASE post friends [and] share,” she asked.
Officials at the prosecutor’s office said they have been investigating the woman’s disappearance since Monday. In addition, officials in the US and Mexico have not said much about their pursuit of the three.
The FBI said it was investigating the disappearance and said in a statement it was “relentlessly pursuing all options when it comes to protecting the American people, and that doesn’t change when they’re at risk across the border,” according to NewsNation .
But many families of those still missing are wondering why their loved ones weren’t given a higher priority by Washington, like the recent kidnapping.
Mexican authorities are conducting a search for the missing women
A missing poster for Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, issued by Mexican authorities
A missing poster for Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, issued by Mexican authorities
A missing poster for Marina Perez Rios, 48, issued by Mexican authorities
Lisa Torres, whose son Robert disappeared when he was 21, became furious as she watched the coverage of the four friends.
“I’m so angry I couldn’t sleep thinking about how my US government handled the kidnappings in Matamoros,” she wrote Twitter. “This only confirms that my US government can help in my son’s case, which it has not done. WHY?’
A lawyer, Geovanni Barrios, whose son was kidnapped in Reynosa when he was 17, told the Washington Post: “We see results when the US government makes strong statements. But it’s not just four Americans who have disappeared in Mexico. We don’t see [the US government] to make these statements about the hundreds of other missing Americans.’
While many families still cling to hope that their loved ones will resurface, they are upset they haven’t been given the massive search and government attention that the four Americans have. For most of the country’s 112,000 missing people, the only ones looking for them are their desperate relatives.
The three women are among a staggering 550 Americans who have been reported missing in Mexico, according to public records. That’s a small fraction of the country’s total of 112,000 missing people — and a tiny percentage of the millions of US citizens who travel to Mexico each year for vacation and work.
Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told travelers preparing for spring break to exercise caution when planning vacations to the popular destination.
“Our department urges anyone traveling to Mexico, especially spring breakers, to avoid these areas as it is too dangerous right now with the increase in violence and kidnappings in Mexico,” Lt. Olivarez told Fox News. “I can’t say enough for those who are thinking about traveling to Mexico, especially on spring breaks… to avoid those areas as much as possible.