CA CA - Maria del Carmen Lopez, 63, Riverside, kidnapped from 2nd home in Mexico, 9 Feb 2023

[imstilla.grandma]

A Southern California woman living in Mexico was kidnapped from her Pueblo Nuevo home, and the FBI on Thursday announced a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to her location.

Maria del Carmen Lopez, a 63-year-old United States citizen who divides her time between her home in Mexico and staying with family in Riverside and Los Angeles counties, has been missing for more than a month, according to Laura Eimiller of the FBI's Los Angeles office.

Lopez is believed to have been kidnapped on Feb. 9 from her residence in Pueblo Nuevo, Colima, according to Eimiller.

"The FBI is conducting this investigation jointly with law enforcement authorities in Mexico," Eimiller said in a statement.

Before moving to Mexico, she lived in the Southern California region, Eimiller said.
Lopez is Hispanic, 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs about 160 pounds. She has blonde hair, brown eyes and "permanent/tattooed" eyeliner.

Anyone with information about Lopez’s physical location is urged to contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. In Los Angeles, the FBI can be reached at 310 477-6565. A tip may also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.

Lopez's home in Pueblo Nuevo is in Colima, a state the U.S. Department of State is urging American travelers to avoid due to a spike in kidnappings and homicides. It's one of many parts of the country the U.S. government has identified as unsafe for travelers recently. The U.S. recently issued its highest-level warning, outright telling travelers not to go to Guerrero, Colima, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas.

Reward Offered For RivCo Area Woman Believed Kidnapped In Mexico

The FBI is offering $20,000 for information leading to Maria del Carmen Lopez, a U.S. citizen believed to have been kidnapped in Mexico.

patch.com

 

[Stunned]

This is not a good time for Americans in Mexico! Why the long wait before they reported her missing?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The investigation into Lopez’s disappearance was opened by the Colima Attorney General’s Office on the day of the suspected kidnapping and the Mexican Attorney General’s Specialized Prosecutor for Organized Crime has since requested to take the case, the statement from Colima authorities said.

FBI offers $20K reward in case of missing American woman kidnapped in Mexico

Maria del Carmen Lopez was kidnapped Feb. 9 in Pueblo Nuevo, a municipality in the southwestern Mexican state of Colima.

www.ocregister.com

 

[dotr]

March 17 2023

FBI offers $20,000 reward month after U.S. woman kidnapped in Mexico: "We're not gonna give up on my mom"

Lopez is a mother of seven, with many of her children still living in Southern California.

www.cbsnews.com

''Her children are now pleading for her safe return after this terrifying event which they believed to be entirely unprovoked.

"There was never any sort of threats, there was never any enemies," Maria's daughter Zonia told CBS Los Angeles. "Anything that would indicate that she was in any kind of trouble."

A family member only identified as a cousin of Lopez's children reported that they saw a group of as many as five people at her home at the time of her disappearance.

Maria del Carmen LopezFBI
"Someone did see. There was a car that drove into the property. There was an exchange of words, they did hear her say she would not get into the car," Zonia said. "Two individuals picked her up and another one came out of the van. They had their heads covered and they covered her mouth and that's when they took her."

Her children believe she was targeted in a crime of opportunity, and that she had no connection to any gangs or criminal activity of any sort.

"I don't think it was isolated, to end up at a town that's so remote, from the city, you'd really have to kind of be indicated — go there," Zonia said.''

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“It’s been a roller coaster for the last 39 days. It definitely seems like we’re actually living inside of a nightmare,” said Zonia, Maria’s daughter.

Zonia was alerted by family members in Mexico about her mother’s kidnapping. The kidnappers then made contact with Zonia, asking for a bounty for her mother.

“It was shocking. It was an actual, it’s like your body and your mind. Everything goes into a state that obviously you’ve never been in. It’s disbelief, but at the same time, as weird as it sounds, some kind of comfort because you’re at least having some kind of communication,” Zonia said.

“We’re hoping that in the next few days, that the government in Mexico gives full support to the authorities there and their troops to conduct the search. It’s a small state, it’s a small town, that they enable everything in their power, so that they can find my mother and that this doesn’t become another kidnapping, where it just goes unsolved,” said Zonia.

Daughter of American woman kidnapped in Mexico receives ransom call

The family of Maria Del Carmen is yet to receive updates from the FBI about her kidnapping.

www.newsnationnow.com

 

[dotr]

March 20 2023

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

The family of a woman kidnapped in Mexico says she may have been targeted.

It comes as the FBI offers $20,000 for information leading to the return of Maria del Carmen Lopez, an American who had been living in Mexico for the past nine years.

“There was never any sort of threats. There was never any enemies, anything that would indicate that she was in any kind of trouble,” said Zonia Lopez, daughter of the missing woman.

Zonia Lopez and her brother Tony said they are puzzled as to how and why their mother went missing.

[...]

FBI investigators said they believe the mother of seven was kidnapped on Feb. 9 from her home.

“Someone did see there was a car that drove into the property, and there was an exchange of words. They did hear her say that she would not get into the car.” Zonia Lopez said.

American woman reported kidnapped in Mexico

The FBI is offering $20,000 for information leading to the return of Maria del Carmen Lopez, an American who had been living in Mexico for the past nine years.

www.cbs7.com