SEATTLE — A woman described as a "vulnerable adult" and reported missing out of Washington in November 2021 was found Thursday in north-central Idaho.
The FBI Seattle office said law enforcement positively identified and safely recovered Marisol Cortes, 31, in the town of Stites after acting on a tip received as a result of media coverage and a widely circulated poster. She has been returned to her family.
The FBI said an elderly family member from Battle Ground, Washington, took Cortes to an unknown location in November 2021 after learning that other family members were petitioning to get custody of Cortes. The FBI on March 15, 2022, released a poster and requested the public's help in locating Cortes, who has physical and mental disabilities, and is non-verbal. Law enforcement believed she was being deprived of required daily medications, a deprivation that could have led to "grave harm or death."
"The tips generated from the public, and the quick action by our investigators and law enforcement partners led to Ms. Cortes being safely returned to her family, who can provide the care she requires," said Special Agent in Charge Donald Voiret of the FBI's Seattle Field Office, who called the public's assistance "instrumental in the outcome we had all hoped for."
Cortes has family ties in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Washington and Idaho. Details about the people or circumstances related to Cortes' disappearance and recovery have not been released.
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