The FBI is offering a $40,000 reward for information about an American woman who was kidnapped in Mexico last November.
Monica De Leon Barba, 29, was kidnapped in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico, on Nov. 29, according to NBC.
The reward for information on De Leon Barba, who is a native of San Mateo County in California, was posted by the FBI’s San Francisco office.
#BREAKING: The #FBI is offering a reward of up to $40K for information leading to the recovery of Monica de Leon Barba, a U.S. citizen who was kidnapped in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico, while walking her dog on November 29, 2022. https://t.co/grAeejsUPv pic.twitter.com/61zGCVd9gn
— FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) March 30, 2023
“We believe that Monica is alive, but we don’t know where she is,” NBC quoted an FBI representative as saying, noting that the woman’s dog was found on the street after she was taken.
“Four terrible months have passed since my sister was kidnapped, although great efforts have been made every day to bring her home, today we are without results,” Gustavo De Leon posted on the Facebook page of a group supporting efforts to find his sister.
“I can not stop thinking about the suffering and fear that my sister has been found for the last 121 days, and that is why I beg you to help us spread the word, and the news of the reward offered by the FBI in order to Return to my sister safe and sound,” he wrote.
“I also ask you to help me contact Ken Salazar (US Ambassador to Mexico) and demand his full support coordinating with the Leaders of the Mexican Government until they deliver my sister,” he wrote.
De Leon said Mexico must do more to protect Americans.
“Since the kidnapping of my sister we have all seen the news of various American Citizens who have also been robbed of their freedom while traveling in Mexico, we can not tolerate this impunity and cowardice of the Mexican Government. I won’t let my sister be another statistic because of bureaucratic inaction,” he wrote.
In March, the FBI offered information about six kidnapping victims, including four Americans taken as a group (two of whom were killed) and another American woman, according to NBC.
Although the FBI would not comment on his claim, de Leon said the kidnappers have made demands.
“We would ask Mexican officials to also place the importance that this case merits into finding my sister who was abducted in plain daylight, blocks from a national guard station,” de Leon said in a statement on behalf of the family, according to CBS.
The #FBI is seeking public tips to help us find Monica. You can submit a tip online at https://t.co/JwFJorXiX7, or call the FBI’s Toll-Free tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). For more info: https://t.co/grAeejsUPv
— FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) March 30, 2023
Quin Boreen, who is de Leon’s boss and a friend, said her kidnapping was “shocking.”
“I’ve read things like this in the news, but I never obviously experienced it firsthand. It’s terrifying,” Boreen said.
De Leon has a warm personality.
“Monica is the type of person that you can’t help but become best friends with her. We honestly are just sick being terrified for her and can’t even imagine what her family is going through,” Borren’s wife, Breanna Gunn, said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.