Woman found in Mexico is not missing Arizonan Shayna Feinman, authorities say
Arizona investigators have rejected Mexican officials’ identification of a woman in Tijuana as Shayna Feinman, reversing an apparent breakthrough in a disappearance that prompted murder charges later dismissed.
A woman Mexican police identified as missing Arizona resident Shayna Feinman is not her, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday, overturning reports that she had been found alive. Feinman disappeared in March 2024, and the announcement leaves her whereabouts unresolved.
The sheriff’s office said U.S. authorities used physical evidence to establish that the woman located in Tijuana was someone else, according to reporting by Arizona’s Family and KTAR. The statement did not specify the kind of evidence used to rule out the identification.
Tijuana’s municipal security agency had announced that officers found a woman matching Feinman’s description in the city’s Encino neighborhood. Officials said she was taken to a safe location while contact with relatives and U.S. consular officials was arranged. That announcement generated reports that the long-running search had ended.
Arizona investigators had urged caution before issuing their correction. Sheriff’s office spokesperson Paul Wick told FOX 10 Phoenix that the information from Mexico remained unconfirmed and that investigators lacked sufficient evidence to verify the woman’s identity. The office subsequently said reports of Feinman’s discovery had circulated without its confirmation.
Feinman’s sister, Kara, also questioned the identification before authorities ruled it out. She told Arizona’s Family that she did not recognize the woman and had not seen firm evidence establishing that she was her sister. The Guardian reported that the reversal brought renewed distress to a family already living with prolonged uncertainty.
Feinman was reported missing from rural Yavapai County in March 2024. According to local reporting, investigators believed she had been walking to an acquaintance’s home but never arrived. Concern grew after she failed to collect her dog from a neighbor who had been caring for it.
Searchers subsequently found Feinman’s vehicle near the property where she had been staying with her boyfriend, Cavett Richards, FOX 10 reported. Her wallet and identification were inside, while her cellphone was recovered on nearby land. Those discoveries did not establish where she had gone or what had happened to her.
The investigation led to second-degree murder, conspiracy and concealment charges against Richards and William DalCerro, despite Feinman’s remains not having been found. FOX 10 reported that the murder charges were dismissed in January 2025. Those dismissed allegations do not establish either man’s guilt, and the disappearance remains unresolved.
The correction removes an apparent breakthrough rather than providing a new answer about Feinman’s fate. The sheriff’s office said detectives continue working with her family, and a $20,000 reward remains available for information about her whereabouts. Authorities have not announced that Feinman herself has been located.
Primary source: The Guardian World. Newzly rewrites and structures source reporting for clarity; verify critical details at the original.