Maritza and Marina Rios: 'Desperate' cousin of women missing in Mexico fears 'time is not in their favor'
PENITAS, TEXAS: A relative of two sisters, who vanished after crossing the Mexican border with a friend to sell clothes, has spoken about her grief over their absence. Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48, and their friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, went missing while on their way to a flea market in Mexico.
According to US Customs and Border Protection, the three ladies entered Mexico on Friday, February 24, from Peitas, a small border town in Texas. "Today is the 16th day since they went missing and we still don't have a clue about my cousins Maritza Perez, Marina Perez, and their friend Dora Cervantes," Ludy Arredondo, cousin of Perez sisters, said, according to a report by Mirror.
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'There have been strong, exhausting, desperate days'
The relatives of Maritza and Marina have contacted the Mexican authorities who are looking into their disappearance, according to Peitas police chief Roel Bermea.
Ludy said that her sisters had 'nothing to do with anything illegal' as they are honest and hardworking women and that not knowing about their whereabouts had made them desperate. "There have been strong, exhausting, desperate days without knowing what's up with them, hard-working, honest women who have nothing to do with illegal situations."
'Time is ticking and not in their favor'
Stating that the FBI joining the search after so many days, Lucy said they were racing against time as it was 'ticking' and 'not in their favor'. "They only went to work. So far, the FBI has joined the search after so many days of their disappearance, time is ticking and not in their favor."
Two days prior to having heard from the police chief, Lucy, as per the outlet, wrote, "So far, we do not have a single piece of news, the authorities do not say anything, they do not have clues. She pleaded, "Please do not leave us alone and keep sharing." Later, when police came up with the update, they had nothing to share at all as they had not heard of the missing trio."
According to police, the husband of one of the missing women had spoken to her on phone while she was traveling to Mexico, but grew concerned when he couldn’t reach her afterward. Bermea said the women were traveling in a green mid-1990s Chevy Silverado to a flea market in the city of Montemorelos in Nuevo Leon state. The authorities' and families' frustration has grown many folds after the recent abduction and killing of two US citizens in Matamoros, Mexico.