American woman kidnapped in Mexico freed after 8 months

An American woman from California, Monica de Leon Barba, who was kidnapped while walking her dog in Mexico, has regained her freedom after eight months in captivity, the FBI said in a statement on Monday.

According to the FBI, de Leon Barba who has been flown back the US and has reunited with her family, was snatched off a street while headed to a gym in November 2022, in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico.

“For the past eight months, FBI personnel in California and Mexico have worked tirelessly with the family and with partners in Mexico. Our relief and joy at the safe return of Monica is profound,” Special Agent Robert Tripp of the FBI San Francisco Field Office said.

Read also: Bodies of two murdered priests found in Mexico

“The FBI investigation is far from over, but we can now work this case knowing an innocent victim is reunited with her family,” Tripp added.

“For the first time in a very long time we have good news! I need to thank every single person that helped my family and I through this entire ordeal.

“We can all finally close this chapter in our lives and work on the long road of healing we have ahead,” her brother, Gustavo de Leon, said in a statement posted on Facebook.

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