3 American Citizens, Including 2 Children, Reported Missing in Mexico
Three American citizens, including two children, have recently been reported missing in Mexico.
According to Daily Mail, American siblings Hugo Yarset Monfort Luna and his 16-year-old sister, Aranza Yosemiti Monfort Luna, left home in the Real de San Felipe neighborhood in the municipality of Garcia in Mexico's state of Nuevo Leon on Friday, and they failed to return.
Officials described the boy as 3 feet, 6 inches tall, with dark, straight brown hair and dark brown eyes. He also has a missing tooth on the right side of his lower jaw.
His sister is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, with dark brown hair and a brown spot over her right cheek. The teenager was reportedly wearing black pants, a pink shirt, a long gray sweater, and blue sneakers.
She also had a black sweater tied around his waist and was carrying a brown bag. It was not immediately known if the children were visiting or were living in Mexico.
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American Citizens Reported Missing in Mexico
Before the American siblings were reported missing, an American citizen also went missing in Mexico. Maria del Carmen Lopez, 63, was kidnapped from her home in the state of Colima on February 9, the U.S. Sun reported.
Her daughter has broken her silence about her mother's disappearance. Zonia Lopez said her mother was confronted by a group of at least three people who showed up at her property in Nuevo Pueblo before she was taken.
Zonia noted that there was an exchange of words and that her mother refused to get into the van. She added that another individual stepped out of the van and helped the two men bring her mother inside and drive away.
Zonia said investigators believe her mother was kidnapped by an organized kidnapping group and not by notorious Mexican drug cartels.
The FBI has offered a $20,000 reward for any information that would help authorities find Maria.
Mexico 'Safer' Than the United States
Without citing any data to support his claim and despite the increasing number of disappearances in Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico is "safer" than the United States.
AMLO made the statement in response to a reporter asking whether traveling to Mexico is safe amid the "very regrettable events," Mexico News Daily reported.
The Mexican president said: "There is no problem with traveling around Mexico safely. United States citizens know that, and of course, our compatriots... [in the U.S.] know that. They're well-informed."
Lopez Obrador's statement came 10 days after four American citizens from South Carolina were kidnapped in Mexico. Two of them were shot dead after they were ambushed by Gulf Cartel members, who mistook them as Haitian drug smugglers.
A Washington Post report said more than 550 other American citizens are reported missing in Mexico, while over 100,000 Mexicans are yet to be found.
The U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory to American citizens traveling to Mexico. The department warned that violent crime is "widespread and common" in the country.
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This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: Family of American Mom Kidnapped in Mexico Speaks Out - From Inside Edition
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