The FBI is asking the general public for assist in finding a missing teenage Utah girl who disappeared final month while visiting family in Mexico.
Elizabeth “Ely” Gonzalez, 14, of Ogden, vanished on June 30 while she was visiting her grandmother in Mexico City, FBI Special Agent Steven Hymas stated throughout a Wednesday information convention.
Surveillance video confirmed Gonzalez moving into a taxi, and he or she hasn’t been seen since. Investigators stated they imagine she was “manipulated by an adult” into getting in the automobile.
Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen, initially traveled alone to Mexico on June 15 and was slated to return on Aug. 7. The FBI was knowledgeable of the missing teen on July 1.
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Elizabeth “Ely” Gonzalez, 14, went missing throughout a go to to see family in Mexico City, the FBI stated. (FBI)
An Amber Alert was issued in Mexico, Hymas stated.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that she is not in the country of Mexico at this moment,” he stated. “We do believe that there will be people here (in Utah) who know information. Maybe they have reached out to friends or acquaintances or other family members who might know something that could help us out.”
The FBI is working with Mexican authorities on the case, Hymas stated. He famous that the FBI has to “rely on our partners” because the company would not have any authority in Mexico.
“Because the incident occurred in Mexico, the FBI does not maintain jurisdiction and, therefore, Mexican law enforcement leads this crucial investigation,” Fox News contributor and former FBI agent Nicole Parker instructed Fox News Digital. “But relaxation assured that the FBI’s Legat workplace and assistant authorized attachés (ALAT) in Mexico City is not going to cease till she is discovered.
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Elizabeth “Ely” Gonzalez, 14, remains missing after disappearing on June 30 in Mexico City. (FBI)
“I labored circumstances involving Mexico,” she added. “And I can unequivocally attest that FBI Legat/ALAT Mexico City has a stable observe file of working tirelessly across the clock day and evening to get better American residents who’ve gone missing and fixing different complicated and violent crimes and many others. And I imagine this case shall be no exception.”
Gonzalez’s mother, Alma Soreque, told reporters that she last spoke with her daughter the morning she went missing. The pair spoke about how Gonzalez slept and what she was going to eat for breakfast. She said she received a call later that day from her family saying they were going to a store to purchase soda.
Soreque said she immediately contacted authorities when she was told that Gonzalez never returned.
“It is the worst thing that a mom wants to hear,” Soreque said, adding that her daughter’s disappearance is “one of many worst nightmares.”
Gonzalez, the middle of three siblings, had just finished seventh grade at Roy Junior High School, her mother said, who described her daughter as “sensible” and “compassionate.”
An aerial view of Mexico City (Cesar Rodriguez/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Soreque said Gonzalez was visiting family so she could experience more of her culture and roots. She had traveled to Mexico City earlier than and there had by no means been a downside.
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Parker stated Gonzalez is probably not in a place to talk together with her family members.
“It is believed that Elizabeth was lured into a automotive in Mexico,” she said. “If so, she could also be prevented from making any unattended strikes. But kids are savvy, and if she will entry a means to talk to somebody relating to her whereabouts, she’s going to.”
