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…

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.…

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 daughter of an Ottawa man who'd been missing in Panama since November says a body found last Friday in the Central American country was her dad. Ed Moynan's daughter, Sandy, posted a message on Facebook confirming that her father's body had been identified.She thanked family, friends, patients and colleagues for their support over the last four months and said funeral details would be posted shortly.…

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…

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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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…

Ever since my brother's disappearance in 2009 -- and throughout the ordeals of every family in the Missing Americans Project -- I have endured and tried to deal in a civilized fashion with the Internet Trolls who think (or think they think) they know or understand something about what happened to the missing loved one. YOU KNOW NOTHING apart from the shreds the media have been able to obtain -- and yet you feel entitled to cast your idoitic theories and judgments out to the…

Let's hope it helps.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/vanished-abroad-us-woman-missing-turkey-18350531

The father of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway is asking a court to declare his daughter dead, six years after she vanished during a graduation trip to Aruba, according to this Associated Press article. Mississippi insurance agent Dave Holloway filed the request in probate court earlier this…

Robyn Gardner, of Frederick, Md., was last seen Aug. 2 at the Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino in Oranjestad, according to the Natalee Holloway Resource Center. The 35-year-old reportedly disappeared on a snorkeling trip at Nanki in the Colony. …

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has published an official warning about the increasing number of missing people in Costa Rica on its travel advice website http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/north-central-america/costa-rica

The new text…

From the Dixon family:

The song COME HOME dedicated to Michael Dixon is now available for download from this link: http://www.facebook.com/l/c1d56qN2UJef9OMFdnJzohJq5hQ/www.helpfindmichaeldixon.com/content/music-campaign

UK residents can also purchase the song by texting TRACK COMEHOME to 80818 or text TRACK COMEHOME M to 80818 for Direct-to-Mobile download.…

Here's the Fox News article.

Not a lot of information yet. I hate to be crass, and of course I am praying for Mr. Salkind and his loved ones, but I can't help wondering if a little bit of Hollywood appeal might FINALLY generate some  interest in the topic of Americans and others missing in Central America and the Caribbean.