Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, July 15, 2026 – Federal security officials are now directly involved in the investigation into six Jalisco students who vanished in two separate graduation-related cases, including three young people last seen at a bus stop in Puerto Vallarta. All six were later found alive, but investigators are examining whether criminal groups tried to recruit them against their will.
Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed the federal role during the July 14 presidential briefing. He said the federal Security Cabinet is working directly with state prosecutors and asked that details remain limited while investigators seek those responsible.
The central questions now involve how the students disappeared, where they stayed during their absence, who controlled their movements and whether communications with relatives were made freely.
The Vallarta group, ages 14, 17 and 18, was last seen June 25 in El Zancudo. They had been waiting near Highway 544 on the way to a graduation ceremony at CECyTEJ Ixtapa. Vallarta Daily reported July 2 that state and national search alerts were active while investigators had not publicly explained how the three left the area.
Jalisco prosecutors announced July 6 that the students had been located alive. The agency said its work included field searches and analysis of information linked to the case. It did not publicly identify a captor, describe the location where the students had been staying or announce an arrest tied to the Vallarta disappearances. PVDN’s initial follow-up noted that the investigation remained open after the students returned.
The second case began June 30 in Guadalajara. Three boys, ages 14 and 15, disappeared after a graduation event connected to Secondary Technical School 113 in Lomas del Paraíso. They were found alive nine days later. Jalisco authorities detained a man accused of posing as a ride-app driver and becoming involved in their disappearance.
The state vice prosecutor handling missing-person cases said investigators had not established a connection between the Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta cases. That distinction remains important. The similar timing, ages and graduation settings support a shared investigative concern, but authorities have not said the same people or criminal network handled both groups.
García Harfuch linked the current work to a broader federal investigation into criminal recruitment in Jalisco. He referenced the 2025 arrest of José Gregorio N, known as Comandante Lastra. A federal security statement issued after that arrest described him as the leader of a cell that recruited people into a criminal organization connected to the Rancho Izaguirre case in Teuchitlán.
That background does not establish that Lastra’s network, or any named cartel, was involved in the six student disappearances. Federal and state officials have not publicly identified a criminal organization in the Vallarta case.
No agency has issued a warning tied to a specific Vallarta bus route, school or neighborhood. The next significant development would be an arrest, a criminal charge, or an official account explaining how the three Vallarta students were moved and whether the evidence supports the forced-recruitment theory.
