Last police officer in Mexican border town missing

Ericka Gandara, 28, hasn't been seen since Dec. 23 in Juarez Valley city of Guadalupe

Published December 28, 2010 7:41PM (EST)

The last remaining police officer in the Mexican border town of Guadalupe has disappeared.

A spokesman for prosecutors in northern Chihuahua state says a search has started for 28-year-old Ericka Gandara, who hasn't been seen Dec. 23.

Some local media have reported Gandara was kidnapped, but spokesman Arturo Sandoval says her relatives have not filed a kidnap complaint.

Sandoval said Tuesday the search was started as a missing-person case. The same day she disappeared, assailants also set fire to the home of a Guadalupe town councilwoman.

Drug cartels have fought bloody battles for control of the Juarez Valley where Guadalupe is located, leading most police officers there to resign.


By Associated Press

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