Freed and Safe: Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco) Las Palomas Manager, 45, and Chihuahua Woman, 30, Released in Joint Operation a Week After They Vanished, Sonora Prosecutors Say
Iván Alejandro Morales Cano, 45, the maintenance and projects manager at the Las Palomas resort community in Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco), and Mariel Ruiz Amaya, 30, of Chihuahua, have been freed and are safe, the Sonora State Attorney General’s Office (FGJES) said on Oct. 8, 2026, according to Proyecto Puente and Expreso. Both had been missing since Oct. 1. The announcement came a day after the Las Palomas Rocky Point homeowners’ association publicly asked Sonora Gov. Alfonso Durazo to step up the search.
What Sonora prosecutors said
Expreso reported that the FGJES announced the release on the morning of Oct. 8. Prosecutors said both people were located and freed in a coordinated tactical deployment by federal, state and municipal authorities, after investigation and search work to find them. Neither outlet’s report says where the two were found, who was holding them, whether they were together, or whether anyone was arrested.
The prosecutors’ office said its earlier work included interviews, analysis of information and review of security-camera footage, Proyecto Puente reported.
New details on the investigation
According to both outlets, investigators had found and secured Morales Cano’s vehicle, which forensic staff then processed. Both outlets also said prosecutors had been gathering information about his past as a former municipal public security officer. The reports do not say which police force he served in, when, or whether that background had anything to do with his disappearance.
Proyecto Puente reported that a friend reported Ruiz Amaya missing. Investigators interviewed people to trace her last movements.
How this fits our earlier report
Our Oct. 8 report, written before the release was announced, relied on Diario del Yaqui and El Diario de Juárez. The Chihuahua bulletin quoted there gives her full name as Diana Mariel Ruiz Amaya; Sonora prosecutors used “Mariel Ruiz Amaya.” The Las Palomas letter put Morales Cano’s age at 45, the age Sonora prosecutors also gave. A Sonora search bulletin listed it as 44. Authorities have not said whether the case is linked to any criminal group. For travel conditions and recent incidents, see our Rocky Point safety page.
Sources
- Proyecto Puente, “Liberan a dos personas reportadas como desaparecidas tras operativo en Puerto Peñasco,” Oct. 8, 2026
- Expreso (Angie Alvarado), “FGJES libera a dos personas desaparecidas en Puerto Peñasco,” Oct. 8, 2026
- Proyecto Puente, “Investiga Fiscalía de Sonora desaparición de trabajador de asociación hotelera y mujer en Puerto Peñasco, Sonora,” Oct. 8, 2026 (Photos: Sonora and Chihuahua search bulletins, via Proyecto Puente)
- Diario del Yaqui, “Exigen a Durazo reforzar búsqueda de Iván Alejandro en Puerto Peñasco,” Oct. 7, 2026 (Photos: Las Palomas Rocky Point HOA letter, via Diario del Yaqui)
Reported Oct. 8, 2026, from the published sources above. The Narco Blog has not independently confirmed the details or reached the two people, their families, the association or Sonora authorities. Prosecutors had not released details on how or where the two were found as of these reports.