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Who is Gladys Perez Sanchez? Texas mom and 2 kids missing on Mexico's Highway of Death

The three-hour route between Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo has seen an increasing number of mysterious disappearances in the past six months

A shocking report has revealed that nearly 50 people, including six US citizens, have mysteriously disappeared in past 6 months while traveling from the city of Monterrey in Mexico to the border city of Nuevo Laredo. The individuals have reportedly gone missing while traveling the three-hour distance between the two cities. In fact, the route has been unofficially christened as the 'Highway of Death' for the shockingly high number of disappearances.

Presently, search parties have been formed by volunteers and family members of the missing persons. According to The Sun, majority of the missing persons hail from Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, while their destination city Nuevo Laredo is notorious for drug cartel activities. Among the missing US citizens, there is one 39-year-old mother from Texas and her two children of 9 and 16 years of age.

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Who is Gladys Perez Sanchez?

Gladys Perez Sanchez hails from Texas and was visiting her family members in Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon in Mexico. She was accompanied by her 16-year-old son John Carlos Gonzalez and her 9-year-old daughter Michelle Christina Duran. The trio was last seen after their family visit in Nuevo Leon. They were reportedly returning by driving a yellow 2014 Chevrolet Sonic.

The FBI has issued a missing persons notice in search of the family. Any person with information about their whereabouts is urged to call FBI San Antonio at 210-225-6741.

Meanwhile, another US citizen from Irving, Texas, also went missing in June 2021. José de Jesús Gómez vanished from the highway on June 3, 2021.

As families of the missing individuals grew more and more concerned, they have prompted the local government to launch a joint program to search for them. The Nuevo Leon government partnered with the administration of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Laredo to amp up security along the highway. The city of Nuevo Laredo is known to be dominated by the Northeast Cartel which originated from the infamous Zetas cartel of the past.

Among the 50 persons who disappeared in the past six months, only six men have reappeared. According to their accounts, they were stopped by armed men along the highway who beat them up and stole their cars. It is assumed by many that the persons who are still missing might have had encounters with similar groups of armed men, possibly belonging to drug cartels.

Mexican activists and worried family members have expressed similarity between the present disappearances and the worst phase of Mexico's drug war (2006-2012) when innocent members of the public were often targeted. “It’s no longer between the cartels; they are attacking the public. “How can this be happening? We were supposed to have more (law enforcement) resources by now,” said Angelica Orozco, a member of the civic organization United Forces for Our Disappeared.