Mystery as three Texas women remain missing near ‘Mexico’s richest city’

Three Texas women remain missing two weeks after vanishing while traveling in Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market near the country’s richest city.

Sisters Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48, and their friend, Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, vanished in Mexico on February 24 after travelling from Peñitas, the small Texas border city where they lived.

The women were driving to a flea market in the Mexican city of Montemorelos, about three hours from their home in Peñitas. Missing posters from Mexican authorities indicate the women were Mexican nationals living in the US.

The FBI has since launched a probe into their disappearances, while US authorities have cautioned spring breakers not to travel to the country amidst a recent spate of cartel-fueled kidnappings.

It comes after the highly publicized case where four Americans were abducted by a cartel after traveling into the country for a tummy tuck. Their abduction was caught on video last week and received an avalanche of attention. 

They crossed into Mexico to sell clothes at flea market three hours away from the border (pictured: Maritza and Marina) 

These are the current travel advisories for Mexico from the US government. Only two states – Yucatan and Campeche – are completely free of advisories 

Officials said the three women were traveling in a green mid-1990s Chevy Silverado and never returned. Their home in Peñitas is just a few hundred feet from the Rio Grande River.

The last to hear from the women was one of their husbands who spoke to her by phone while she was in Mexico. He later reported them missing after growing concerned when he couldn’t reach her afterwards, the Peñitas Police Chief Roel Bermea said.

The sisters’ cousin Ludy Arredondo wrote on Facebook that they ‘do not have a single piece of news [and] the authorities do not say anything,’ as she and others continue to pray for their safe return. 

‘They do not have clues,’ she wrote. ‘PLEASE do not leave us alone.

‘My cousins and their friend are women, workers, responsible, mothers of their children, noble, simple women, they are WOMEN WHO WENT TO WORK. PLEASE friends post [and] share,’ she begged.

Officials at the state prosecutor’s office said they have been investigating the women’s disappearance since Monday. Beyond that, officials in the US and Mexico haven’t said much about their pursuit of the three.

The FBI said it was investigating the disappearance and said in a statement it ‘relentlessly pursues all options when it comes to protecting the American people, and this doesn’t change when they are endangered across the border,’ according to NewsNation. 

Authorities search for the missing women from Texas who vanished two weeks ago

A missing poster for Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, issued by Mexican authorities

A missing poster for Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, issued by Mexican authorities

A missing poster for Marina Perez Rios, 48, issued by Mexican authorities

The coverage of their disappearances has been decidedly muted compared to that of four Americans who were kidnapped on March 3 after driving across the US to Mexico to allegedly receive a cheap tummy tuck operation in the country.

 Latavia McGee, Eric Williams, Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard were snatched in Matamoros – just south of the Texas border – in a dramatic kidnapping that was caught on camera.

After a massive manhunt and national news coverage, the group were found on March 7 in a shed about six miles from where they were taken.

When rescued – McGee was seen barefoot and covered in dirt – the trauma of the incident evident on her face.

She survived the ordeal with Williams who was shot in the left leg, according to Mexican officials, the others did not survive.

Brown and Woodard had both been killed by the time they were found.

Mexican officials said they believe the incident could have been a case of ‘mistaken identity’ and could be connected to the notorious ‘Gulf Cartel’ who are prominent in the region.

But questions have been raised over why the Americans were in the cartel-run city in the first place after DailyMail.com revealed their previous links to drugs.

Shortly after the Americans were found, five cartel members turned themselves over to authorities, along with a note from the gang apologizing for the kidnapping and explaining the men had operated on their own. 

‘The Gulf Cartel’s Scorpions Group strongly condemns the events of last Friday, March 3 where unfortunately an ‘innocent’ working mother died and 4 American citizens were ‘kidnapped’ of which 2 died,’ the Spanish-written message read.

‘And for this reason, we have decided to hand over those involved and directly responsible for the facts who at all times acted under their own determination and indiscipline and against the rules that ‘The CDG’ has always operated, respecting the life and integrity of the innocent,’ the cartel said.

Latavia McGee and Eric James were rescued by security forces Tuesday morning

Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, two of the Americans kidnapped in Mexico, were found dead Tuesday

But many relatives of the Americans still missing are asking why their loved ones haven’t been given a higher priority by Washington like the recent kidnapping. 

Lisa Torres, whose son Robert disappeared at 21, grew angry as she watched the coverage of the four friends.

‘I’m so angry I couldn’t sleep, thinking about how my US government acted in Matamoros with the kidnappings,’ she wrote on Twitter. ‘This only confirms that my US government can help, and they didn’t, in the case of my son. WHY?’ 

A lawyer, Geovanni Barrios, whose son was abducted in Reynosa at 17, told the Washington Post: ‘We see that when the US government makes strong statements, there are results. But there aren’t only four Americans disappeared in Mexico. We don’t see [the US government] making these statements about the hundreds of other missing Americans.’ 

While many families are still holding onto hope their loved ones will reappear, they are resentful that they haven’t been afforded the massive search and government attention like the four Americans did. For most of the 112,000 missing in the country, the only ones looking for them are their desperate relatives. 

The three women are among a startling 550 Americans who have been reported missing in Mexico, according to public records. This is a small part of the total 112,000 people missing in the country – and is a tiny percentage of the millions of US citizens who travel to Mexico every year for vacations and work. 

Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told travelers gearing up for Spring Break to be careful when planning vacations to the popular travel destination. 

‘Our department is urging anyone traveling to Mexico, especially spring breakers, to avoid those areas, because right now it is too dangerous with the increase in violence and kidnappings in Mexico,’ Lieutenant Olivarez told Fox News. ‘I can’t express enough to those thinking about traveling to Mexico, especially to spring breakers…to avoid those areas as much as possible.