Concern for missing mum after 2yo found on street

Authorities on Mexico’s Caribbean coast have issued an alert for a missing Australian woman whose 2-yearold daughter was found wandering alone in the resort city of Cancun.

Prosecutors in the coastal state of Quintana Roo said Tahnee Shanks, 32, was last seen on Monday in Cancun.

There was no immediate information on how she became separated from her daughter, Adelynn.

But yesterday, prosecutors also issued a missing persons alert for the girl’s father, Jorge Luis Aguirre Astudillo, a Mexican citizen. Aguirre Astudillo is also 32 and was also last heard from Monday.

Shanks’ family believes she was on the verge of returning to Australia after a relationship breakdown with Aguirre Astudillo.

Her brother Daniel claimed on Australian television the woman’s partner was seen dumping their 2-year-old daughter in Cancun.

“We have got three eyewitnesses saying that it was him that dumped her there, and he is on the run. Tahnee is missing and he is on the run.

“We have got great concerns for our sister and we are doing everything we can to get her home safely.”

Shanks’ mother Leanne and other brother Ben were flying out to Mexico yesterday, and the family is offering a A$5000 ($5533) reward for information.

Daniel said he was urging anyone who might know something to “please come out and speak”.

He described the disappearance as “very out of character”.

“She is always on social media, she is always posting photos of her and Addie constantly, it is a constant stream of it, so for her to drop off, we knew something was wrong,” he said. “We have got great concerns for her safety.”

Daniel revealed his niece was safe in an orphanage.

“We’ve just had verification from the embassy, we’ve had photos of Adelynn and her condition — she’s safe and healthy,” he said.

The ABC reported Shanks had been trying to get her daughter home to Australia for months.

On Facebook she wrote in May 2021: “I can’t come back to Australia till mid 2022!!! My baby girl will be 2½ years old and hasn’t even met her grandad, uncles, great gran, cousins.” Agencies