Woman Reported Found Alive in Mexico Is Not Missing Arizona Woman, Sheriff Says

Arizona authorities say Mexican officials were wrong to announce that a woman missing since 2024 had been found alive. The claim concerned Shayna Feinman, and her sister has described the episode as "turmoil" and "heartbreaking."

Feinman was reported missing in rural Yavapai county, Arizona, in March 2024, when she was 38. According to the Arizona outlet KSAZ, authorities believe she was on foot, heading to an acquaintance's home, when she was last seen. She never arrived and never returned to her dog. Searchers later found her car abandoned near the place where she had been staying with her boyfriend, Cavett Richards. Her wallet and identification were reportedly inside, and her cellphone was eventually found on nearby land.

Although Feinman herself was never found, the Yavapai county sheriff's office charged Richards and a man named William DalCerro with second-degree murder, conspiracy and concealing a corpse. Those charges were later dismissed. A $20,000 reward was offered for information while investigators kept working the case.

The case appeared to take a dramatic turn on Saturday. The secretariat for security and citizen protection in Tijuana, Mexico, said in a statement that Feinman had been located the previous day in the city's Encino neighborhood. The statement included a photo of a woman seated in front of a desk with a missing poster bearing Feinman's details. It said investigators had confirmed her identity, noting that her physical characteristics matched those in the missing person report, but it gave no further explanation.

The statement said the woman had been placed in protective custody while Tijuana officials arranged contact with the Feinman family and US consular officials. The agency even shared a link to its statement on a social media page belonging to Feinman's sister, Kara.

Both Kara Feinman and the sheriff's office responded with skepticism. Kara told KSAZ on Monday that she was waiting for the sheriff's office "to know for certain." She said the woman in the photo had "similar physical attributes" to her sister, but added: "I can only hope and pray [for] good news, but right now, we have to be realistic." Sheriff's office spokesperson Paul Wick said the reports were unconfirmed and that "there is insufficient evidence to verify her identity."

On Tuesday, the sheriff's office issued its update. "Today, US authorities confirmed to [office] detectives, utilizing physical evidence, that the individual located is not Shayna Feinman," it said. It noted that earlier media reports about the supposed discovery were published without official law enforcement confirmation, and that detectives continue to work closely with the family. Tijuana's security secretariat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an interview with the Guardian on Tuesday, Kara Feinman said she believed the confusion began with at least one concerned citizen who became convinced her sister was in Tijuana and said so on social media. She said she had been guarded about the idea, then reluctantly opened her mind after the Tijuana statement, only to face online bullying from users who criticized her for not reacting joyfully enough to the false news.

She said she hopes people who follow such cases will understand the harm in "jumping to conclusions without having all of the information" and then lashing out at those most affected. "Words are stronger than people think, and kindness can go so far," she said. "It's been turmoil going through this. It's heartbreaking. It's terrible, and I don't wish this on anybody."