Utah Teen Girl Goes Missing While Visiting Family in Mexico ‘Worst Thing a Mom Wants to Hear’
The FBI needs the public’s help to find a Utah teenage girl who went missing last month while visiting family in Mexico.
FBI Special Agent Steven Hymas said at a news conference on Wednesday that Elizabeth “Ely” Gonzalez, 14, from Ogden, went missing on June 30 while she was in Mexico City to visit her grandma.
Gonzalez was seen on video going into a taxi, but she hasn’t been seen since. The police said they think she was “influenced by an adult” to get into the car.
Gonzalez, a native of the United States, went to Mexico by himself on June 15 and was supposed to come back on August 7. The FBI was told on July 1 that the teen was missing.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that she is not in the country of Mexico at this moment,” he stated. “We are sure that there will be people in Utah who know things.” Perhaps they’ve asked family, friends, or neighbors who might know something that could help us hear it.
The FBI and Mexican police are working together on the case, Hymas said. It was said that the FBI has to “rely on our partners” because it doesn’t have any power in Mexico.
“Because it happened in Mexico, the FBI does not have jurisdiction,” Nicole Parker, a Fox News contributor and former FBI agent, told Fox News Digital. “Mexican law enforcement is in charge of this important investigation.” “But know this: the FBI’s Legat office and the assistant legal attachés (ALAT) in Mexico City will not give up until she is found.”
“I worked cases that had to do with Mexico,” she said. “I can say without a doubt that FBI Legat/ALAT Mexico City has a history of working hard day and night to find missing American citizens and solve other complicated and violent crimes.” I don’t think this case will be any different.”
González’s mother, Alma Soreque, told reporters that she had last talked to her daughter the morning she disappeared. They talked about Gonzalez’s food and how she slept. Later that day, she said, her family called her to say they were going to the store to buy pop.
Soreque said that as soon as she heard that Gonzalez hadn’t come back, she called the police.
Soreque said, “It’s the worst thing a mom could hear.” She also said that her daughter going missing is “one of the worst nightmares.”
Gonzalez is the middle child of three brothers. Her mother said she had just finished seventh grade at Roy Junior High School and that her daughter was “smart” and “kind.”
Soreque said Gonzalez was going to see family to learn more about her background and culture. There had never been a problem when she went to Mexico City before.
Parker said Gonzalez might not be able to talk to her family and friends.
“It is believed that Elizabeth was lured into a car in Mexico,” she shared. “If that’s the case, she might not be able to move without being watched.” Unfortunately, kids are smart, and if she can find a way to let someone know where she is, she will.