'I still have hope she is alive': Family of Des Moines woman missing in Mexico still searching for answers

    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) -- Chris Leguisano was not there to celebrate Christmas or several milestones for her children and grandchildren for the last five and a half months. Despite her absence, her family holds out hope that Leguisano is still alive nearly six months after she was reportedly kidnapped in Mexico.

"I still have hope she is alive. I have faith that she will come back to us," said her daughter, Stephanie Quintana-Leguisano.

The 51-year-old mother of four left Des Moines on Aug. 8 with another family member to deliver a truck full of belongings to her brother-in-law in Mexico. Her family says she checked in with them to say she made it to Mexico, but they haven't heard from her since.

They say the last person to see her was her brother-in-law and he is not giving them answers. And they've received very little information from the FBI, which is investigating Leguisano's disappearance.

"To not have answers in six months, I think it's outrageous," said Quintana-Leguisano.

Sen. Chuck Grassley's office told KCCI the FBI investigation is still open. In September, Sens. Grassley and Joni Ernst sent a letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, requesting an update on the embassy’s efforts to locate Leguisano.

"This is now the second high-profile assault of an American citizen in Tamaulipas in the last two years," the letter to Ambassador Ken Salazar said. "In March 2023, four Americans lawfully traveling to Mexico came under cartel gunfire in Tamaulipas. Only two Americans survived. They were found in a wooden house with the bodies of their travel companions.

Leguisano's son, Brian Garay, says he has hired his own private investigator in Mexico to try to find his mom.

"I know my mom is alive. I just know. I feel it in my soul. When you have that connection with someone you truly love, you can just feel it," said Garay.