The FBI says it is offering a $20,000 reward for information surrounding the disappearance of a 63-year-old American citizen who was “kidnapped from her residence” in Mexico in early February.
Maria del Carmen Lopez, whom the FBI’s Los Angeles Office says has connections to Southern California, was last seen at her home in Pueblo Nuevo in Mexico’s Colima state on Feb. 9, according to investigators.
“The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 USD for information leading to the physical location of Maria del Carmen Lopez,” it said.
The notice comes after Mexican authorities last week repatriated the bodies of two Americans killed in Mexico by members of a drug cartel.
Those Americans – identified by Mexican officials as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown – reportedly crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Matamoros from Texas so a member of the group they were traveling with could get cosmetic surgery.
Two sisters from a Texas border town and another woman also reportedly remain missing after driving to Montemorelos in Mexico’s Nuevo León state to sell clothing at a flea market in late February.
Maria del Carmen Lopez is described by the FBI as being around 5 feet 2 inches and weighing 160 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes. Her eyeliner, they added, is “permanent/tattooed.”
Lopez’s disappearance follows a U.S. State Department warning last October for Americans to stay away from Mexico’s Colima state.
“Do not travel due to crime and kidnapping,” the State Department said about the region. “Violent crime and gang activity are widespread. Most homicides are targeted assassinations against members of criminal organizations. Shooting incidents between criminal groups have injured or killed bystanders. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents have been victims of kidnapping.”
Source: Univision
