Salt Lake City, USA - The former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' temple in Chihuahua, Mexico, has been kidnapped.
Sources confirmed to KSL NewsRadio late Tuesday that Meredith Romney was abducted from his ranch property near Janos. Romney, a distant relative of former Salt Lake Olympics chief and one-time presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was abducted Monday afternoon.
The U.S. State Department, the FBI and Mexican authorities are working jointly on the investigation.
Romney's nephew, professional bull-rider Rocky McDonald told Professional Bull Riders in an article posted on ESPN.com that masked gunmen shot out the tires of Romney's truck.
"We're still waiting for the ransom call," McDonald told PBR and ESPN.
The area has been plagued with kidnappings and violence linked to the drug cartels. Last month, a member of a fundamentalist Mormon sect was kidnapped. Eric LeBaron, 16, was abducted near the community of Colonia LeBaron.
After fundamentalists, LDS members and Mennonites banded together to protest at the governor's office in Chihuahua, the Mexican army was sent into the region to find the kidnappers. LeBaron was later released unharmed.