Zayda Cruz Missing Person Case

Oct 21, 2017

Aug 14, 2019

Zayda

Cruz

45

36

66 inches

150 lbs

160 lbs

White / Caucasian

Female

In the vast and often unforgiving landscape of the Arizona desert, the story of Zayda Guadalupe Cruz's disappearance began on June 4, 2017. At 36 years old, Zayda was in the midst of a journey that she hoped would lead to a new chapter in her life. She had traveled by bus from Culiacan, Sinaloa, to Nogales, Mexico, with the intention of crossing into the United States. It was near the border city of Nogales, Arizona, that she was last seen, a place where hope and peril often walk hand in hand. Her family and loved ones were left waiting for a call that never came, their lives forever altered by the silence that followed her last known movements in the borderlands. The circumstances surrounding Zayda's disappearance are harrowing and fraught with the desperation that marks many such journeys. After crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, the group Zayda was traveling with had an encounter with U.S. Border Patrol agents in the remote desert terrain. In a moment of panic and fear, Zayda ran from the agents. She disappeared into the harsh environment, a landscape that can be as beautiful as it is dangerous. She has not been seen or heard from since that fateful encounter. The group she was with was unable to provide any further information on where she may have gone, leaving a void of uncertainty. At the time she went missing, Zayda was described as a Hispanic female with black, curly, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She stood approximately five feet, six inches tall and weighed around 150 to 160 pounds. Her appearance is distinguished by several identifying marks: her ears are pierced with one hole in each, she has burn marks on the outside of both of her thighs, and a scar on her upper back between her shoulder blades. She also has a large mass on the outside of her right breast and her eyebrows are tattooed. It is believed she was likely wearing tennis shoes and may have had sunglasses with her. The overview of this case is that Zayda Guadalupe Cruz vanished while attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, Arizona. After running from a Border Patrol encounter in the desert, all contact with her was lost, and her current whereabouts remain unknown, leaving a painful and unresolved mystery for those who await any news.

Jun 04, 2017

Nogales

Arizona

Santa Cruz County

34180

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Phoenix

Arizona

Maricopa County

85003

550 West Jackson Street, Arizona

6028761000

County

Law Enforcement

https://www.mcso.org/

17-035112

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Black

Brown

Brown

07/23/2026