Day 786: Two US Citizens Disappear in Culiacán Within 48 Hours

Two US citizens vanished in separate incidents in Culiacán within a two-day span, days after a third American was shot dead in Mazatlán on September 14. José Antonio Castro Meza, 29, was last seen around 10:45 PM on Tuesday, September 15, driving a gray Geely EX2 through the La Campiña neighborhood; his vehicle was found abandoned on Thursday morning, September 17, on Liberalismo street in the Lázaro Cárdenas neighborhood near Parque 87, but he was not located. Separately, on the morning of September 17, armed men intercepted Luis Mario Zúñiga Ramos, 49 — owner of a long-established Culiacán jewelry business — as he arrived at his shop in the Plaza Real, Tres Ríos sector, forcing him out of his armored Audi and into another vehicle. State, municipal and Army search operations were underway for both men as of the report, with no arrests or public leads announced.