Three U.S. women reported missing in Nuevo León

Three women, originally from Texas and between 47 and 53 years of age, who were on their way to a flea market in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, have not returned home.

March 10th.- Two sisters, originally from Texas, and a friend disappeared in Mexico after crossing the border last month to sell clothes at a flea market, U.S. authorities said on Friday, March 10th.

The kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico that was captured on video last week received an avalanche of attention and was resolved in a matter of days. But the fate of the three women, who have not been heard from for two weeks, remains a mystery and has received relatively little publicity.

The FBI said it is aware that two sisters from Peñitas, a small Texas border town near McAllen, and their friend are missing. Peñitas Police Chief Roel Bermea said their families have been in contact with Mexican authorities, who are investigating their disappearance.

U.S. and Mexican authorities have not said much about the search for Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48, and her friend, Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53.

The episode contrasts sharply with the government and media frenzy over the kidnapping of four Americans who traveled to Mexico by road for plastic surgery. They were caught in a shootout between drug cartels in the border town of Matamoros, and a video showed them being taken away in a van. The two survivors were found Tuesday in a wooden shack near the Gulf of Mexico coast.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that three women crossed into Mexico on Friday, Feb. 24, according to Bermea. Peñitas is located a few hundred yards from the Rio Grande River.

The husband of one of the women spoke to her by phone while she was traveling to Mexico, the police chief said, but became concerned when he was unable to contact her afterward.

“Since he couldn’t get in touch during that weekend, he came down that Monday and let us know,” Bermea said. The three women have not been heard from since.

Bermea said the women were traveling in a green Chevy Silverado vehicle from the mid-1990s to a street market in the city of Montemorelos, in the state of Nuevo Leon, which is about a three-hour drive from the border. State prosecutors’ officials said they have been investigating the women’s disappearance since Monday.

TYT Newsroom