Two More U.S. Citizens Disappear in Guadalajara

The disappearance of two more Americans was reported to police here Saturday by friends who said the missing men had not been seen for more than two weeks.

A spokesman for the American Consulate confirmed that U.S. officials were aware of the case of John Walker, an American resident of Guadalajara, and Alberto Radelat, who was visiting Walker from the United States.

The reported disappearances come as the U.S. Embassy in Mexico remains concerned about the kidnaping in Guadalajara 10 days ago of an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration and other reports of violent crimes here involving American victims.

Radelat failed to show up as scheduled at a travel agency on Jan. 31 to pick up an airline ticket to return home the following day, said Carlos Turver, a friend of Walker who reported the disappearances to authorities.

Turver, a naturalized Mexican citizen, operates a sandwich shop called Uncle Sam’s Kitchen. He said Walker’s landlady reported that the lights had been left on in Walker’s residence and that all of his clothes were there.

A Vietnam Veteran

Turver described Walker as a Vietnam veteran from Minnesota who had been living in Guadalajara for about a year on his military disability pension.

A U.S. consular officer who visited the residence found an open jar of peanut butter on the table and other signs to indicate that Walker had not intended to leave for a long time. Walker’s car is also gone.

Officials said they knew of no connection between the disappearances and the kidnaping of Enrique S. Camarena, an American DEA agent who remains the object of an intense police search throughout this western Mexico city of 3.6 million people.

Camarena, 37, was grabbed by armed men just a few yards from the U.S. Consulate at midday, moments after leaving the building to meet his wife for lunch. He was seen being put into a waiting car that sped away.

$50,000 Reward Posted

No communication has been received from Camarena or his abductors, according to U.S. officials, and the only reported response to a posted reward of $50,000 for information leading to his safe return has been a series of crank telephone calls.

The report of two more missing Americans also follows closely the still-unsolved disappearance here in early December of two American couples, members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church.

Ben and Pat Mascarenas of Ely, Nev., and Rose and Dennis Carlson of Redding were believed to have been abducted while distributing evangelical literature in a residential neighborhood.

That incident is one of the most prominent mentioned by U.S. officials in discussing a proposed travel advisory, or warning, that the U.S. Embassy is now considering asking the State Department to issue for Guadalajara and the nearby Pacific resort of Puerto Vallarta.

The officials said they have discerned a worrisome overall increase in violent crimes in which Americans, as well as Mexicans, were the victims of physical attacks, armed robberies and rapes.