PhD student, wife vanish in Mexico while traveling for research. Family wants answers

It has been over two months since family and friends heard from doctoral student Frank Guzman and his wife, Caroline Katba.

The couple embarked on a lengthy journey in a Toyota Prius-Hatchback from Austin, Texas, intending to end up in Santiago, Chile, before Sept. 9, family said, but they haven’t heard from them since July.

The trip through Mexico was planned to be a vacation before the couple arrived in Chile for 32-year-old Guzman’s research for his doctoral degree at the University of Texas Austin, his sister Elizabeth Guzman told KXAN.

McClatchy News reached out to Elizabeth Guzman and UT Austin but did not immediately hear back.

The last communications between the couple and family happened on July 22 via WhatsApp when Katba said they were planning to leave Mexico on July 23 and drive to Guatemala, family said.

Loved ones continued to try contacting the couple, but calls to Caroline failed on July 24. WhatsApp says Frank was last seen on July 22 and Caroline on July 23, family said.

“It is believed that the last location they were in before they lost contact was Coatzacoalcos Veracruz Mexico,” Elizabeth Guzman said in a Sept. 14 Facebook post.

Currently, there is a travel advisory in the Veracruz state due to “violent crime and gang activity,” according to the state department.

Frank Guzman was reported missing to Texas police on Sept. 13.

Additionally, the couple’s photos were sent to the Mexican Consulate at the recommendation of the FBI, family said. Elizabeth Guzman said they tried to file a missing person’s report at the FBI office in Los Angeles on Sept. 13, but the FBI would not open the case.

The U.S. Embassy, Mexican authorities and the university are working to find the couple, Guzman said in a Facebook post.

McClatchy News reached out to the FBI but did not immediately hear back.

“Now it’s getting to the point where you’re thinking about the bad scenarios, right?” Frank Guzman’s friend Nestor Rincon told KVUE. “Now, there’s this question of, you know, ‘Are there going to be any more memories to make? Or is this what we have left?’”

Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, is about a 1,100 mile drive southeast from Austin.

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