In every film about a kidnapping or disappearance, there is a ubiquitous scene in which a family crowds around a phone, waiting for a call from the criminals to shatter the silence. But for many people in the Rio Grande Valley, and the United States, that silence — that hideous tension — remains unbroken. 

The disappearance of U.S. Marine veteran Armando Torres III made national headlines last week, when he was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen on a Tamaulipas ranch near the…

A U.S. Marine reservist who disappeared in Mexico last month along with his father and uncle may have stumbled into an ongoing land dispute between his family and a neighbor, family members said Tuesday.

The FBI announced Monday it's looking for information about the May 14 disappearance of 25-year-old Iraq War veteran Armando Torres III of Hargill, Texas. He, his father, Armando Torres II, and uncle Salvador Torres were taken from the ranch in Mexico, not far from the…

Eleven young people were brazenly kidnapped in broad daylight from an after-hours bar in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa, a normally calm district of offices, restaurants, drinking spots and dance clubs, anguished relatives said Thursday.

The apparent mass abduction purportedly happened sometime between 10 a.m. and noon on Sunday morning just off the Paseo de la Reforma, the city’s main boulevard, near the Angel of Independence monument and only about 1½ blocks from the U.S. Embassy. …

A search is under way for a Marine reservist veteran once based in Galveston who disappeared in Mexico on May 15.

The State Department is leading the search for Armando Torres, who crossed into Mexico near Brownsville with his father and uncle, KPRC-TV reported.

Authorities said he was kidnapped along…

A Texas family's search has ended in tragedy. Family members confirmed that the body of Apolonio “Polo” Sanchez, Jr. was found south of the border in Matamoros. The Harlingen home health care provider went missing in Mexico on the weekend of May 10th. Sanchez was supposed to coach a youth soccer game but never made it to the field.…

Per ABC News: While Mexico's murder rate of 19 killings per 100,000 residents is about four times higher than the murder rate in the U.S. and 20 times higher than Canada's, Mexico's murder rate is significantly smaller than the murder rate of nearby Latin American destinations like Honduras, Venezuela or Guatemala, which had 39 murders per 100,000 people in 2012. Brazil, the country that will host millions of tourists for the next year's World Cup, has…

The drug war in Mexico has claimed at least 70,000 lives, but the full death toll may never be known because thousands are searching for relatives who have disappeared.

Along the border some of those missing in Mexico are U.S. citizens.

“It’s individuals that communicated with their loved ones on a daily basis and all of a sudden they disappear,” said Oscar Hagelseib, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security’s investigations in El Paso.

The agency helped…

The family of a Canadian man who went missing in Mexico two weeks ago fear they are unable to trust the local police who are leading the investigation.

Diego Hernandez, a 22-year-old martial arts instructor from British Columbia, and his American friend Craig Silva, disappeared from the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta on May 8.

The two were in the country to organize a mixed martial arts sporting event. Hernandez and Silva had withdrawn money from Silva's bank account to…

KRGV in Weslaco, Texas, reports that the number of United States residents missing in Mexico keeps climbing, according to federal investigators. Law enforcement officials said the chances of finding them are slim.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has at least 272 cases on file. Each case may include more than one victim. FBI stats show that 254 of the missing were from McAllen…

The body of a Minnesota man who went missing after bodysurfing in Mexico has been located. Mark Stoneberg, 58, was on vacation in Sayulita, near Puerto Vallarta on Feb. 26 with his wife when he went missing at about 5 p.m.

Nancy Stoneberg, 47, says that authorities in Mexico called off the search for the father of three after only a few hours, saying he was presumed drowned. After Nancy requested urgent action, however, a Mexican navy search and rescue team was deployed to search for…

Mexico is one of the countries where journalists “face the most danger” from criminal organizations, resulting in the murders and disappearances of many members of the media, the president and CEO of the Mexico City daily El Universal, Juan Francisco Ealy, said Monday. More than 70 journalists have been murdered and 13 others have gone missing in Mexico,…

Six years after concerns about student safety prompted the California State University System to suspend programs in Mexico, the chancellor’s office has announced that it is relaxing its policy in areas of the country considered safe for travel by the U.S. State Department. 

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CSU's decision is based on the U.S.…

Spring Breakers who want to take a dip in the Gulf of Mexico south of the border should be reminded of security concerns when visiting Matamoros, according to a U.S. Department of State Spring Break travel advisory.

“Travelers to the Mexican border should be especially aware of safety and security concerns due to increased violence in recent years between rival drug trafficking gangs competing for control of narcotics smuggling routes,” the advisory states.…

More than 26,000 people have gone missing in Mexico over the past six years as violence surged and the country's government cracked down on drug cartels. Mexico's Interior Ministry announced the staggering statistic on Tuesday but noted that authorities don't have data about how many of the disappearances are connected with organized crime.

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As months turn into years, ‘Maria’ still holds out hope that her daughter Jessica Solis Lozano is alive.

“I’m not going to give up,” Maria said. “I hope that she's still alive."

What keeps her going is Jessica’s two young children. Both are left to wonder if their mother will ever come home.

"Her kids ask for her every day."

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Bodies found dumped in a well in northeastern Mexico may be those of the 18 musicians and staff of a band that went missing after a Thursday night performance, authorities said. The members of Kombo Kolombia were reported missing Friday by family members who said they lost contact with the group after it performed at a bar…

Please watch this piece about the disappearance two years ago of John Parks in Matamoros, MX, and share it widely.

http://www.krgv.com/news/few-answers-2-years-after-man-disappears-in-matamoros

These cases get precious little media coverage and scant attention from our government. Maybe if more people begin to know and understand the underlying issues we will begin to see policy…

Even before the tour bus comes to a stop, the women rise from their seats and wait in the aisle to exit. In their arms rest rolled-up flags of the Central American countries they come from. Large laminated photographs of missing loved ones hang by lanyards from their necks. They descend the stairs to a gaggle of waiting press photographers. This is their moment of hope, stirring once again the possibility of putting to rest years of uncertainty and desperation.

Maybe someone has seen…

Three years after his disappearance in Costa Rica and the Dixon family is no nearer to finding out what happened to their son.

Michael was last seen leaving his hotel in Tamarindo, Costa Rica on 18 October 2009.The British and Costa Rican response to the incident has been bugged by incompetence and false hope from start to end.

The Foreign Office did not tell the…