Mexican officials searching for missing Seattle woman

MEXICO CITY – Mexican officials say they are searching for a Seattle woman who disappeared while backpacking in southern Mexico.

Authorities in the state of Oaxaca have issued an alert for information on Jenney Chen, saying she was last heard from around April 11. They say she had been hitchhiking and was headed to the coastal resort of Cancun.

Officials say she may have travelled west down the Isthmus of Tehuantepec or could have taken a more northerly route through Veracruz state. Some parts of Veracruz have been plagued by violence and disappearances.

Chen’s husband is Seattle resident Jonathan Reinhard, and he is carrying out efforts to find her. Reinhard wrote Tuesday that he hoped for “some positive results by next week.”