California woman kidnapped in Mexico last year has been found, FBI says

SAN FRANCISCO -- A woman who was kidnapped in Mexico last year has been found, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

San Mateo resident Monica de Leon Barba was released by her captors on July 14, the FBI said.

On Nov. 29, 2022, she was kidnapped in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico, as she was walking home from work with her dog, the FBI said.

Barba had grown up and lived most of her life in California before moving to Mexico for a job opportunity in photography.

The FBI said she is safe and will be returning to her family in the United States.

"For the past eight months, FBI personnel in California and Mexico have worked tirelessly with the family and with partners here and in Mexico," said Special Agent In Charge Robert Tripp of the FBI San Francisco Field Office. "Our relief and joy at the safe return of Monica and Gael is profound. The FBI investigation is far from over, but we can now work this case knowing an innocent victim is reunited with her family. On behalf of the FBI, I want to extend my sincere thanks to our law enforcement partners, to the family, and to the San Mateo community for their continued engagement and advocacy. They never forgot Monica, and neither did we."

No arrests have been made as authorities continue to search for the suspects.

Meanwhile, a Southern California family continues to search for their mom who was also kidnapped in Mexico.

Sixty-three-year-old Maria Del Carmen Lopez was taken from her Mexican home in February.

Her family continues to raise awareness about her disappearance.

Her daughter, Zonia Lopez, said the news that Barba was found in Mexico gives her family hope about their own mother as well.

The FBI is also working Lopez's case.