Chris Olivarez: Texas lieutenant warns against traveling to Mexico as three US women go missing
PENITAS, TEXAS: Lieutenant Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety has urged the public to rethink traveling to Mexico after the latest disturbing incident that left two sisters, Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, and Marina Perez Rios, 48, and their friend, Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, missing. The three women crossed the border into Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market on February 24. Warning the citizens, Olivarez said, "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."
He said "I can't express enough to those thinking about traveling to Mexico, especially to spring breakers...to avoid those areas as much as possible." While Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said, as stated by New York Post, "Drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat to anyone who crosses into Mexico right now."as reported by DailyMail.
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Adding further, Olivarez said, “In most cases, when these tragedies take place, no one’s left alive.” On the other hand, the sisters' cousin Ludy Arredondo wrote on Facebook, "We continue to pray for the soon return of my cousins Marina Perez, Maritza Perez and Dora Cervantes, so far we do not have a single piece of news, the authorities do not say anything, they do not have clues, in the media no longer seen the news, PLEASE do not leave us alone and keep comparing."
How did the three women go missing?
Roel Bermea, the Peñitas, Texas police chief, said the three women crossed the border at the Anzalduas Port of Entry on February 24 in a 1995 Chevy Silverado, reported CNN. After crossing over to Mexico, the women were unreachable. The chief has urged the public to inform local authorities with any information that could lead to the whereabouts of the women.
Two of four SC residents found dead
News of the women's disappearance came a week after four South Carolina residents were kidnapped in Matamoros on March 3. Out of them, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown were found dead, and two, Latavia Washington McGee, a mother of six, and Eric Williams, were found alive on March 7, as per CNN. Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal said, "The victims were found in a wooden house in Matamoros and had been transferred to various places over the days in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts.”