The FBI is offering a $40,000 reward to help find a California woman who went missing in Mexico while walking home from work with her dog.
Mónica De León Barba, 29, was kidnapped and “forced into a van” in Tepatitlán de Morelos, a city in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico, on November 29 around 5 p.m., and on Wednesday Four months have elapsed since his disappearance.
Friends went into a frenzy over de Leon’s whereabouts when she failed to show up at a local FIT 4 LIFE gym. When they went looking for her, they found her dog loose in the city.
The FBI field office in San Francisco told the SF gate that De Leon Barba had been in Mexico since June 2022. The family said she traveled there often to work on her portfolio of photographs and to visit family. Her plan was to travel to her home in San Mateo before Christmas vacation, but it never came.
His disappearance comes amid a series of kidnappings of US citizens in Mexico, with authorities urging Americans to avoid traveling to high-risk areas.
Mónica De León Barba, 29, was on her way to FIT 4 LIFE, a gym located in Tepatitlán de Morelos, a city in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico, when she was kidnapped on November 29 around 5 p.m.
The FBI is offering up to $40,000 for conducting information leading to the recovery of Monica De Leon Barba.
Earlier this week, the FBI San Francisco Field Office offered a hefty reward of up to $40,000 and asked for the public’s help in locating De Leon Barba.
“We believe this was a targeted kidnapping,” FBI Special Agent in Charge San Francisco Robert Tripp told KTVU on Thursday.
“We believe that she is still being held hostage. The kidnappers have been in contact with her family and the FBI is working closely with her family and with the authorities in Mexico to get her home safely,’ she added.
The family created a ‘Help us find Monica’ Facebook group to share prayers and asked anyone with information about her mysterious disappearance to help authorities locate her.
A family friend who runs the group told DailyMail.com that De León Barba’s family is currently not speaking to the press due to the ongoing investigation.
But the missing woman’s brother, Gustavo De León, wrote a Facebook post after the FBI announced his reward on Thursday.
“Four months of torture have passed since the kidnapping of my sisters, although great efforts have been made every day to bring her home, today we are far from that goal.”
“I can’t help but think of the utter fear and agony you’ve faced over the past 121 days, and that’s why I implore anyone who sees this message to help spread the word that the FBI has now dropped a bounty on any leading information”. to the safe return of my sister.
‘All those who can help me, please contact your local politicians and ask them to help us bring my sister home in any capacity possible.
“I ask that you also help me contact Ken Salazar (US Ambassador to Mexico) and demand the full cooperation and support of Mexican state leaders until my sister returns safely.
“Since the time of my sisters’ abduction, we have all seen the news of multiple US citizens having their freedom stolen while traveling through Mexico,” she said.
“We cannot allow this to be the status quo and I will not allow my sister to become another statistic for cowardice and inaction in politics.”
‘Help me flood their phone lines and saturate their inboxes until my sister Monica De León is safely home.’
The family of the missing woman urged California Senator Alex Padilla and Congresswoman Jackie Speier to help with the search. KTVU informed.
The kidnapping of De León Barba is among a series of kidnappings of US citizens in Mexico in recent months, according to the FBI.
On February 9, María del Carmen López, 63, disappeared in Pueblo Nuevo, Colima. And, on March 3, four Americans were kidnapped and two were killed in the border city of Matamoros. All four individuals had been traveling south so that one of the group could have an inexpensive tummy tuck.
As spring breakers prepared to travel across the border for fun and sunbathing, the US government designated nearly every state in Mexico as a travel risk and many were labeled ‘no travel’ or ‘reconsider travel’.
The Colima and Tamaulipas areas had a ‘Do Not Travel’ notice and the Jalisco region, where De León was last seen, had a ‘Reconsider Travel’ due to high crime and kidnapping in those areas.
The US government urged spring breakers destined for Cabo, Cancun and Tulum to “use caution.”
De Leon was on her way to Gym Fit 4 Life before she was kidnapped on November 29, 2022.
The cartels’ spiral of violence is a stark reminder that behind glitzy, sun-drenched resorts lies a bloody war on drugs, and visitors should take heed.
De León Barba, brown haired and brown eyed, white and Hispanic, is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs approximately 240 pounds.
A day before his abduction, he had spoken with the family and shared a photo of his outfit: a black T-shirt, black pants, and a white beanie.
DailyMail.com contacted the Jalisco State Attorney General’s Office.
Anyone with information on de Leon Barba is urged to contact their local FBI field office or the nearest US embassy or consulate. They can also submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov or call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).