Post by LadyBlue on May 2, 2006 16:29:18 GMT -5
TAMPA - A missing, pregnant Carrollwood woman who family and friends feared was abducted has been living in Mexico since her disappearance, according to officials.
Claudia Altman, 39, left Tampa for Mexico City on her own, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigators.
From the beginning, investigators suspected personal, professional and financial problems to be the cause of Altman's disappearance and not foul play.
Altman was fired from a part-time job with Westgate Resorts in Orlando on April 1. She was dealing with health problems and going through a messy divorce at the time of her disappearance.
Altman is also on probation for a past arrest. Her probation officer will decide whether she'll be penalized for leaving the country, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.
Investigators have not yet contacted Altman directly but said she has been in contact with family and her employer at Las Americas Herald, a weekly Hispanic newspaper, since her disappearance.
Six months pregnant, Altman disappeared from her Carrollwood-area home on April 4, leaving behind her driver's license, purse and cash.
Hillsborough sheriff's investigators found Altman's van in a parking lot across the street from the downtown Tampa Greyhound bus terminal on Saturday and Tuesday announced that Altman was in Mexico.
Altman's daughter, Jessie Etkin, 17, said she doesn't think her mother will stay in Mexico and is unsure exactly why she left Tampa.
Claudia Altman, 39, left Tampa for Mexico City on her own, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigators.
From the beginning, investigators suspected personal, professional and financial problems to be the cause of Altman's disappearance and not foul play.
Altman was fired from a part-time job with Westgate Resorts in Orlando on April 1. She was dealing with health problems and going through a messy divorce at the time of her disappearance.
Altman is also on probation for a past arrest. Her probation officer will decide whether she'll be penalized for leaving the country, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.
Investigators have not yet contacted Altman directly but said she has been in contact with family and her employer at Las Americas Herald, a weekly Hispanic newspaper, since her disappearance.
Six months pregnant, Altman disappeared from her Carrollwood-area home on April 4, leaving behind her driver's license, purse and cash.
Hillsborough sheriff's investigators found Altman's van in a parking lot across the street from the downtown Tampa Greyhound bus terminal on Saturday and Tuesday announced that Altman was in Mexico.
Altman's daughter, Jessie Etkin, 17, said she doesn't think her mother will stay in Mexico and is unsure exactly why she left Tampa.