The FBI is urging the public to come forward with any information about the apparent kidnapping of Armando Torres, III along with his father and uncle, by armed men in La Barranca, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on May 14.
Torres, a Marine reservist who served in a combat zone during Operation Iraqi Freedom, reportedly drove across the International Port of Entry Bridge at Progresso, Texas, to visit his father's ranch in La Barranca, Tamaulipas.
Armed gunmen entered the ranch and took Torres, as well as his father, Armando Torres II, and his uncle, Salvador Torres, by force, the FBI said.
Cristina Torres, sister of Armando, talked to her brother online the day before he disappeared. Torres reportedly wanted to move to Harrisonburg, Va.
"I think maybe he just wanted, you know, to go and have a farewell and tell my dad he's coming over here," Cristina told the Associated Press.
Cristina told the AP she received a call from her cousin in Mexico the day of her family members' disappearance. The cousin was in another home on the family's ranch.
"Ten or 20 minutes after they got kidnapped, my cousin called me," she said. "She said that she saw a white truck just pull in and a couple men just got out of the truck and went inside the house and ambushed them and took them out and put them in the truck."
There are rumors that drug traffickers wanted the father's ranch but specific threats are unknown at this time. The home was allegedly robbed and the victims vehicles were stolen.
According to the AP, "stories abound of the drug cartels forcefully taking ranches to facilitate their drug trafficking, and properties near the border are especially attractive. The segment of border where the ranch is located is an important drug trafficking corridor for the Gulf cartel."
The three alleged kidnap victims have not been seen or heard from since the day of their disappearance.
Mexican authorities have launched an investigation and the FBI has opened an international kidnapping investigation. They are both requesting anyone with information to contact the FBI-Brownsville Resident Agency Office.
