Maria Del Carmen Lopez: FBI Offers $20,000 In Great-Grandmother's Kidnapping Case In Mexico

Maria Del Carmen Lopez, a U.S. woman who was living in Mexico, has been missing for more than a month. Now, the FBI is offering $20,000 as a reward in the great-grandmother's kidnapping case.

The FBI said in a statement that the 63-year-old was kidnapped from her Pueblo Nuevo, Colima, Mexico house on Feb. 9. The U.S. citizen split time between Mexico and Southern California.

Her family said that they were asked to pay a large ransom by her kidnappers. They believe the kidnappers abducted her from her home while they were armed and masked.

Lopez's daughter, Zonia, told "NBC Nightly News" on Friday that her family were able to hear "what sound to us like a recording of her pleading for us to please help her."

Zonia said that Lopez moved to Mexico after she retired and was living "a quiet life back in their homeland."

She shared that her mother never expressed any concerns for her safety while living in Mexico.

The kidnapping case was initially kept out of the public spotlight to keep Lopez safe, said the prosecutor's office in Colima.

It has now been taken over by the specialized prosecutor for organized crime, said the Colima authorities, who are working with the FBI.

The FBI believes that Lopez's abduction was a targeted kidnapping, said a spokeswoman.

The Los Angeles field office is now offering $20,000 for any information that would lead to her location.

The FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office Donald Alway told CNN that Federal authorities don't believe that drug cartels in Mexico were involved in the kidnapping.

Alway said that the agency has witness accounts that confirm Lopez was kidnapped.

He shared that they are going to pursue the case, and they will "look at every avenue and we'll follow every lead and we'll open every door that we can find to ensure that our primary goal is to get her back safely."

The interest in missing persons cases in Mexico shot up after four Americans were kidnapped this month while heading to Matamoros, Mexico, for a medical procedure.

While two of them were killed, the two others got back home in the U.S. safely.

Three women, two sisters and a friend, have also been missing for nearly a month. They had crossed the border from Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market in Montemorelos in Nuevo León.