FBI: American who was kidnapped in Mexico headed back home after 8 months
The FBI released this photo of Monica de Leon Barba after she was kidnapped in November 2022.
By Michelle Watson and Josh Campbell, CNN
(CNN) — Monica De Leon Barba, a United States citizen who was kidnapped last November while walking home in Mexico, is being transported to the US after her captors set her free, according to FBI authorities in San Francisco.
“The FBI is pleased to announce that Monica De Leon Barba is safe and en route to the US where she will be reunited with her family and dog after spending eight months in captivity,” the FBI said in a Twitter post on Saturday.
De Leon Barba was released by her captors Friday night, according to the FBI.
She was taken in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico in November as she walked home from work with her dog, the update stated.
The FBI previously said it was offering up to $40,000 for information leading toward locating De Leon Barba. The award announcement in March was the FBI’s first public acknowledgment that it had been investigating the kidnapping.
Authorities have made no arrests and are continuing the investigation into the captors’ identity, the FBI’s social post on Saturday said.
“The FBI investigation is far from over, but we can now work this case knowing an innocent victim is reunited with her family,” FBI special agent in charge Robert K. Tripp said in a statement on Twitter.
The-CNN-Wire
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