American Couple Is Missing in Mexico After Traveling There to Collect Rent from Tenants
A Southern California couple who went to Mexico to collect rent money from their tenants is missing.
Jesus Ruben Lopez Guillen, 70, and his wife Maria Teresa Lopez, 65, were reported missing on Jan. 10 by their daughter after they didn’t return to their Garden Grove home.
The couple had gone to collect rent from tenants in properties they own in the Obrera neighborhood of Tijuana. They had only planned to be there for a few hours but have not returned home.
“They own some properties in Tijuana and they go down to collect rent and take it to the bank and there is a place where they would exchange it,” Garden Grove Police Department Lt. Carl Whitney tells PEOPLE. “They were going to have the money exchanged and do a quick turnaround trip and be right back.”
The couple’s daughter told police that she tracked her parents to one of their properties using an online service to find phones, but when a relative went to check on them they weren’t there. The phone later went dead.
Tijuana police discovered the pair’s a green 2005 Toyota Tundra near the rental property, Whitney says.
“It is very concerning,” he says. “Here it is Thursday and they haven’t been seen since last Friday, and we don’t have any reports of any found person that might be our missing people. We will keep our fingers crossed and pray for the best and hope it is a happy outcome, but as time goes by it becomes more concerning.”
Whitney says Garden Grove authorities are limited in terms of how much they can be involved in the investigation.
“Our hands are tied as police in the U.S.,” he says. “There is only so much we can do, and we have to rely on our counterparts across the border. It is a very busy city and they had numerous homicides over the weekend. They are doing the best they can to follow up on all the leads.”
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Neighbor Danielle Razi told KABC that the couple has lived in Garden Grove for decades and are a close family.
“She’s got a few great kids with lots of grandkids and they’re always here … every holiday,” Razi said.
Garden Grove police are asking anyone with information to call Detective Richard Desbiens at (714) 741-5810. Anyone with information is also encouraged to call the Baja California Prosecutor’s Office in Mexico at (664) 607-7332 and (664) 683-9646.
