Puerto Vallarta’s missing-person total is no longer a distant state-level statistic. New figures from Jalisco’s state registry put the municipality at 559 accumulated cases of missing and unlocated persons through April 2026, continuing a rise tracked year after year since 2018. The numbers show a local problem that has worsened over time, with each annual count adding pressure on families, investigators, and search agencies trying to keep cases from fading from view as new reports continue to enter the system.
Puerto Vallarta reaches 559 accumulated missing-person cases
Puerto Vallarta had 559 accumulated missing and unlocated persons cases through April 30, 2026, according to figures cited from Jalisco’s state registry.
The figure is up from 249 cases in 2018, meaning the municipality’s accumulated total has more than doubled over eight years. The increase amounts to 310 additional cases, or about 124 percent.
The annual figures cited in the report show a steady climb. Puerto Vallarta recorded 305 accumulated cases in 2019, 349 in 2020, 385 in 2021, 433 in 2022, 464 in 2023, 504 in 2024, and 538 in 2025. By the April 2026 cut-off, the number had reached 559.
What the figures show
The figures are accumulated cases, not a count of people newly reported missing only during the first four months of 2026. They reflect people listed in the registry category for missing and unlocated persons.
That distinction is important because the trend measures the continuing weight of unresolved cases over time. The April 2026 number adds to a pattern already visible in the prior years, rather than standing alone as a one-month or one-year total.
Jalisco maintains state-level records through its missing-person registry. Mexico’s national public registry also includes information such as the state and municipality of location, year of disappearance, sex, age, and the type of investigation associated with the disappearance.
Families and search agencies remain under pressure
The increase keeps attention on Puerto Vallarta missing-person cases at a time when Jalisco remains one of the states most closely associated with Mexico’s disappearance crisis.
State authorities direct disappearance complaints through the Fiscalía Especial en Personas Desaparecidas and local Ministerio Público offices. The state prosecutor’s missing-persons unit says it provides attention to families and investigates reports of disappearance in Jalisco.
Earlier this year, a local report on the opening of a search office in Puerto Vallarta cited the state search commissioner as saying that the municipality then had 507 people still missing. The April cut-off now cited from the registry places the accumulated figure at 559.
The latest numbers do not explain what happened in each case. They show the size of the official registry burden in Puerto Vallarta and the pace at which the accumulated count has grown since 2018.
