The Guadalajara Reporter

Guadalajara panics as three children go missing

The Jalisco Attorney General's Office (Fiscalia General) has issued Amber Alerts after two teens and an infant went missing in Guadalajara.

Andres Barba Olivas and Luis Antonio Ortiz Guerra, both aged 15, disappeared after being seen for the last time at the Ciudadela shopping mall in Zapopan on Friday afternoon.

One-year-and-seven-month-old Nancy Palacios was snatched from the arms of her mother by two men as she walked along Lazaro Cardenas at the intersection of Ocho de Julio.

Jalisco has only recently signed up to the Amber Alert program, which brings together law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies and others to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases.  The goal is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.

At a press conference Tuesday, Attorney General Carlos Najera said investigators were following up several important leads and revealed that a possible "suspect" has already been identified.

Juan Manuel Estrada Juarez, president of FIND, an NGO dedicated to locating missing children, said the suspect had used social media to invite the two boys to a party where they could "have the girls of their choice" and also told them he could find them work that earned them between 20,000 and 30,000 pesos.

At the press conference Najera advised parents to be careful about who their children are communicating with on social media.

Because the news of the disappearances was circulated rapidly on social media and by local broadcasters, Najera  warned citizens of falling prey to psychosis and clarified there were no indications that a band of "robachicos" (child kidnappers) were operating in the city's shopping malls.  He urged citizens to visit "official" news sites to get correct information.

The growing fear had escalated after two 13-year-old girls were reported missing in Tlajomulco at the weekend. 

However, they were found two days later staying with friends and admitted they had run away from home after family disagreements.

Anyone with information on any of the three missing persons should call 01800-0085400 or (33) 3134-4982.