The FBI's office in Los Angeles is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the "physical location" of an American woman who was kidnapped from her home in Mexico in February.
The agency said in a news release Thursday that it's believed Maria del Carmen Lopez, a 63-year-old American citizen, was taken away from her home in Pueblo Nuevo, Colima, on Feb. 9, reports CBS News.
The U.S. authorities are conducting a joint investigation with officials in Mexico.
Lopez is a mother of seven who has several children still living in Southern California, and often travels to visit members of her family, reports CBS Los Angeles.
One of her sons, Tony, told CBS Los Angeles that the family is not giving up on finding their mother. Her children also say they think the kidnapping was unprovoked, and they are pleading for her safe return.
"There was never any sort of threats, there were never any enemies, anything that would indicate that she was in any kind of trouble," her daughter Zonia said.
A family member who was described as a cousin of Lopez's children reported seeing a group of up to five people at her home when she disappeared.
"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 added that their mother did not have any connections to gangs or criminal activity, and they think her kidnapping was a crime of opportunity.
"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.
Lopez is described as standing around 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing around 160 pounds. She has blonde hair, brown eyes, and "permanent/tattooed" eyeliner, according to the FBI.
Anyone with information is urged to contact their nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate or the closest FBI office. The Los Angeles FBI branch can be reached at (310) 477-6565.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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