KDSN RADIO News
Ernst calls on Mexico to step up, get kidnapped Iowan released
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she’s pressing Mexican authorities to secure the safe return of a 51-year-old Des Moines woman who was kidnapped in northern Mexico a month ago.
“Seriously, this is Mexico. This is a partner with the United States, whether it’s trade or other types of economic endeavors. This is our neighbor to the south,” Ernst said during a stop at the Clay County Fair in Spencer. “They need to step up.”
Chris Leguisano went missing over a month ago. She was in Mexico to deliver a truck full of belongings to a brother-in-law and was last seen in Reynosa, Mexico — less than an hour’s drive from the U.S. southern border. Ernst said this is the second high-profile assault of American citizens in that part of Mexico in the past two years. “This is a woman who was kidnapped,” Ernst said. “We can’t tolerate this.”
State Department officials have briefed the staff in Senator Chuck Grassley’s office and Ernst’s staff on outreach to Mexican authorities and how U.S. law enforcement is involved in the case. In July, the State Department issued a warning advising Americans not to travel to or through the state Leguisana visited. It’s in northern Mexico and sits along the Gulf of Mexico.
“It just underscores the fact that having an open border, having cartels that are running these dangerous schemes of drug running, weapons trafficking, human trafficking,” Ernst said.
Leguisano’s son told WOI TV he’s gotten text messages demanding a ransom.
