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Yarissel Díaz Arcia, a 19-year-old Cuban woman from Palmira, Cienfuegos, has been reported missing since April 30 in the municipality of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, and her family has had no news of her whereabouts since then.
The State Commission for the Search of Persons of the Government of Chiapas issued official bulletin number 01S/CEBP/244/2026, documenting that the last time her parents heard from her was around 2:00 AM that day, when she left her home at 36 Veracruz Street, Veracruz neighborhood, in Tapachula.
Yarissel's boyfriend claims to have dropped her off at the door of her rental house around that time, but the homeowners assert that she never entered.
Relatives have also noted that the young woman had previously had problems with the property manager, who allegedly had threatened her.
Yarissel arrived in Tapachula on November 15, 2024 and had been living alone in that city for about a year and a half, stranded in Mexico after the cancellation of the humanitarian parole program for Cubans.
The young woman is 1.70 meters tall, weighs 59 kilograms, has abundant wavy light brown hair, elongated light brown eyes, and fair skin.
Notable among her distinctive features are piercings in her nose and flower tattoos on her left hand and feet.
The complaint was filed with the Mexican authorities, but the family remains desperate.
“The family members are completely desperate,” emphasized reporter Niover Licea, who echoed the case on social media.
"A call is being made to the entire Cuban community in Tapachula, Mexico, and nearby areas: if anyone has seen her or has any information, no matter how minimal, please get in touch immediately," emphasized the independent communicator.
The list of missing Cubans in Tapachula is growing
The case adds to a long list of Cubans missing in Tapachula, a border city where organized crime exploits the vulnerability of migrants through kidnappings and extortion.
In December 2024, at least six Cubans went missing in Tapachula as part of a group of nearly 40 migrants whose whereabouts remained unknown months later. In August 2025, another Cuban woman disappeared in Chiapas after going to the beach near Tapachula, with no reported progress in the investigation by the Mexican authorities.
In April of this year, a family was desperately searching for another missing young Cuban under similar circumstances. The Foundation for Justice documented 1,236 incidents of violence against migrants in Mexico during 2025, including kidnappings, extortion, and forced disappearances.
Close to 6,000 Cubans deported from the United States have been stranded in Tapachula and Villahermosa since February 2026, without documents or resources, in a context of alert regarding the increase in kidnappings of Cubans in the border area.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Yarissel can contact the WhatsApp numbers 961 238 0198 and 961 688 8668, write to the email busqueda.cebp.chiapas@gmail.com, or reach out to the authorities through the official Facebook page cebpchiapasoficial.
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