Witnesses say ex dumped 2-year-old
GRAVE FEARS HELD FOR MISSING MUM
THE Mexican partner of missing Australian woman Tahnee Shanks dumped their child at a church before disappearing, according to eyewitnesses.
New details have emerged as concerns grow for Ms Shanks, who was due to return to Queensland with her two-year-old daughter Adelynn next month.
Family are now making a desperate mercy mission to Mexico to rescue Adelynn, who is safe and well.
Ms Shanks went missing on Sunday, with Adelynn found near a Cancun chapel.
The 32-year-old had been living in Mexico for nine years but was planning a permanent move back to Australia after her relationship with Jorge Aguirre Estudillo broke down.
Mexican police have been in touch with Australian authorities about her case.
Ms Shanks’s brother Dan Shanks said three eyewitnesses claim Estudillo abandoned Adelynn in Cancun.
“We’ve got three eyewitnesses telling us that, verifying it was him. And Tahnee’s the one missing,” Mr Shanks said on the Today Show.
“And he’s on the run, as far as we’re concerned.”
Cancun is a popular tourist spot in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ms Shanks had been travelling to Tulum, which is about two hours from where Adelynn was found.
She has not touched social media, which her family said was out of character.
Mr Shanks told News Corp that he had grave fears for his sister.
“She’s never off social media and she would never leave that girl. That’s the scariest thing,” Mr Shanks, who lives in Mackay, said.
“We know Tahnee wouldn’t leave that girl on her own. She was with Jorge in the days before and now they’re both missing.”
He said Adelynn had flights booked for Australia next month.
“Addy was found walking the streets of Cancun by herself,” he said.
“She was so close to coming home. Addy’s got her citizenship and she was just waiting on a passport.
“Plane tickets were paid for. She was getting the passport on June 7 and coming home on June 22.”
An emergency passport was expected to be issued for Adelynn, with Australian embassy officials in contact with the authorities in Mexico.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of Tahnee
Shanks, an Australian woman reported missing in Mexico.”
Ms Shanks had last been in Australia three years ago for her brother’s funeral.
Adelynn, 2, has had little exposure to her family in Australia.
Ms Shanks, in a travel blog post about the Whitsundays, describes herself as a “beginner freelance writer, Aussie world traveller, vegetarian and animal lover”.
“Back in Australia, I was an assistant nurse looking after the elderly, it was such a rewarding career however I still felt there was something missing,” the former Airlie Beach woman said.
“The travel bug bit me in 2010 taking me on my first 18month journey through Asia and parts of Europe volunteering and couch surfing my way across the country before returning back home where I saved for two years.
“My second trip took me to the Americas. So far I have been to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, the US and now Mexico. Cancun has been my home for over a year, I fell in love.”