London, Mar 8 (ANI): The Mexican woman, who was the only person willing to become police chief of her town, has been fired after she apparently fled to the United States.
Marisol Valles Garcia, 21, had made international headlines when she accepted the post in the dangerous Valley of Juarez town of Praxedis Gilberto Guerrero in October last year.
The town had been without a police chief since the last one was shot to death in July 2009. The incumbent before that was beheaded.
Two rival gangs, the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels, are battling over control of its single highway, a lucrative drug-trafficking route along the border with Texas.
Valles Garcia, who is a criminal justice student and mother of one, was granted a leave of absence from 2-7 March to travel to the US for personal matters, but failed to return to Praxedis as had been agreed.In the absence of Ms Valles Garcia's presence on the agreed-upon day, and since there was no notification of a need to extend the period of her absence, the mayor has decided to remove her from office," the Scotsman quoted officials as saying a statement.
Local news media have since reported that Valles Garcia was seeking asylum in the US, but there has been no confirmation of that and her precise whereabouts remain unclear.
Over the weekend, as speculation increased that she was seeking refuge, officials tried to contact Valles Garcia but were unable to reach her.
De la Rosa Hickerson said that he still had not been able to reach her and did not know where she was. He added that he would ask officials to reconsider their dismissal of the young chief.
"I have the impression that this position by the mayor is a bit hasty. Because right now Marisol needs support, and one way to be supportive is to leave her in office," he said.
He added that residents of Praxedis told him Valles Garcia had received threats against her life, and there may even have been an attempt to kidnap her.
"To fire her is to leave her completely alone," he added. (ANI)
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