A California woman who was kidnapped in the Mexican state of Jalisco was rescued alive Saturday, the FBI told Telemundo 48.
Monica de Leon Barba, 29, was released by her captors Friday night and is en route to San Mateo, California, to be reunited with relatives, the federal agency told our affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area. His health status is unknown.
The young Hispanic woman was kidnapped by five people in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, on November 29.
[These 6 families still searching for their missing American children in Mexico feel "abandoned" by the U.S.]
In a video recently released by the FBI, Leon Barbara is seen walking down a street when a man dressed in black gets out of a white Suburban pickup truck and along with other suspects who followed her on the sidewalk force her into a gray Volkswagen Jetta that was parked next to the truck.
The suspects fled the scene in three separate vehicles, including a gray Dodge Charger.
Photo by Mónica León Barba, published on the FBI website. FBI
The girl's family said she had gone out to buy something at the store accompanied by her dog. The pet was loose in the street after the kidnapping of its owner, as seen in the video.
A friend, Alejandra Olivas, said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo that León Barba had moved to Jalisco after "a stage of very strong depression in the United States," "that's why he was looking for his happiness in Mexico."
[Mexico asks US to remove 'water border' installed by Texas to deter migrants]
The victim's brother, Gustavo de León, told Telemundo 48 that the family was contacted by people asking for a ransom in exchange for his sister's release.
The FBI offered a $40,000 reward to anyone who shared information that helped rescue the girl.
Leon Barba's case comes just months after the kidnapping of four Americans in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, two of whom died in the crossfire between two criminal groups in the area.
Marine arrested after missing girl found in his room
July 11, 202300:26
But many relatives of missing U.S. citizens in Mexico are still searching for their loved ones. According to data from the National Registry of Missing Persons, there are at least 550 U.S. citizens not located in Mexico.
More than 110,000 people who disappeared in the country in the last four decades remain unfound.