Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, August 25, 2026 – A gray 2009 Jeep Wrangler X reported stolen Monday afternoon from a property in Emiliano Zapata was found abandoned hours later in Villa Las Flores after its U.S. owner called 911 and municipal police began searching the city.
The owner noticed the Jeep missing on August 24 and reviewed video from cameras at the property. He told officers the footage showed a man he recognized leaving with the vehicle. He also said the Jeep’s keys had been taken weeks earlier and that money was later demanded in exchange for their return.
Patrol unit PV-457 found the Jeep at Paseo de las Flores and Paseo de las Rosas in Villa Las Flores, on the airport side of the city and well north of the Zona Romántica property. Officers described the vehicle as completely abandoned.
Municipal police secured the site and contacted the on-duty public prosecutor. The prosecutor directed officers to complete the standardized police report known as the Informe Policial Homologado and document the scene. The Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office continued the investigation into the person linked by the owner to the surveillance video.
The case falls within a category that was nearly unchanged in Puerto Vallarta early this year. A PVDN review of local crime data counted 60 reported vehicle-theft cases, compared with 61 in the same period of 2025. Motorcycle theft was tracked separately and declined from 95 cases to 69.
The Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office vehicle-theft page includes its recovered-vehicle lookup. PVDN’s local robbery reporting guide explains the sequence after a theft, beginning with 911 when immediate police assistance is needed and followed by a formal complaint with Fiscalía.
