Scammers Target Missing Mustang Man's Family

Blake Mitchell went missing more than four months ago. He went missing on March 13, after family member stopped receiving text messages from him. Since that day, the family has continuously been searching for Mitchell. 

“I can deal with him being dead, I can deal with him being alive, I just cat deal with him being missing,” said Erica Diebold, Mitchell’s sister.

Mitchell went missing in Cozumel as he was working toward becoming a scuba instructor.

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“At what point in your head do you switch to he is alive, and it is a search and rescue, or he is dead, and it is a search and recovery,” said Diebold.

Diebold has nightmares every night and said the holidays are the worst without her brother.

“You don’t know if he is dead or in the middle of the water or if he ran away,” said Diebold.

But she had a glimmer of hope when she got a text message from someone saying they had kidnapped her brother. In the text, the person demanded a ransom payment of $4,000 and said if she told anyone he would die.

“Everybody had their hopes so high that we were going to see my brother,” said Diebold.

Erica ended up handing over $300 dollars in Amazon cards to the person. Come to find out, Canadian County officials told them it is a scam and happens more than you think.

“He is just preying on vulnerable people,” said Diebold.

Even though the ransom message was an added layer of pain, Diebold said she will not stop searching for her brother.

“I am never going to give up,” said Diebold.