Police: U.S. teen randomly kidnapped, found in Reynosa

Police reunited a teenage woman with her family Monday afternoon, nearly 19 hours after she was abducted, blindfolded and dumped in a Reynosa field. The 18-year-old woman, whose name was not disclosed by police, was walking to a friend’s house about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. A black van pulled up alongside her and three men hopped out, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said. They snatched the girl, blindfolded her and took her to Reynosa. The kidnappers began calling the woman’s family demanding ransom money. “The kidnappers somehow missed it that she had a cell phone,” Gonzalez said. “We were able to keep communicating with her.” The chief said police investigators, FBI agents and Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies negotiated with the kidnappers. Once the abductors realized their victim’s family would not be able to pay a ransom, they dumped her in a random field. Customs officers and U.S. Border Patrol agents were put on alert to look for the teen and a helicopter surveyed Mexico from this side of the border, but found nothing. U.S. authorities did not contact their Mexican counterparts because they did not know whether they were corrupted or connected to the girl’s captors, Gonzalez said...more