Sisters Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios and Marina Perez Rios and friend Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz have not been heard from since they left their Texas homes
Three Texas women are missing after they crossed the border into Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market, U.S. authorities said Friday.
According to Peñitas Police Chief Roel Bermea, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said sisters Maritza Trinidad Perez Rios, 47, Marina Perez Rios, 48, and their friend, Dora Alicia Cervantes Saenz, 53, traveled to Mexico on Feb. 24 and have not been heard from since, per NBC News.
The sisters are from Peñitas, which is a small border city in Texas near McAllen and a few hundred feet away from the Rio Grande, NBC News reported.
According to the Associated Press, the women were heading to a flea market in Montemorelos in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León, which is a three-hour drive from the Texas-Mexico border.
KRGV reported that the women were traveling in a green 1995 Chevy Silverado with the license plate PVR4472.
According to KRGV, one of the women’s husbands first informed police of their disappearances.
“Since he couldn’t make contact over that weekend, he came in that Monday and reported it to us,” Bermea said, according to NBC News.
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“We did contact the FBI to let them know the ladies were considered missing,” Bermea said, per KRGV. “We’re just concerned if anyone has any information, they can contact us or contact the FBI… we really haven’t had any incidents that I can recall of something like this happening in another country.”
There are relatively few details on the case, as the FBI said it is “unable to provide comment on this ongoing investigation” and it “relentlessly pursues all options when it comes to protecting the American people, and this doesn’t change when they are endangered across the border,” per NBC News.
The FBI provided the following statement to KRGV when reached for comment: “The FBI is aware of this matter, however no information is being provided at this time.”
