After taking off from the city of Monterrey, a small plane carrying Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera went missing, authorities in northern Mexico confirmed Sunday.
Jorge Domene, spokesman for the Nuevo León state government, told Milenio television on Sunday that the plane left Monterrey about 3:30 a.m local time after a concert there and aviation authorities lost contact with the craft about 10 minutes later. It had been scheduled to arrive in Toluca, which is located outside Mexico City, about an hour later.
Domene said a search for the plane was launched early Sunday, with helicopters from the local civilian protection agency flying over the state. He said seven people including the crew were believed to be aboard the U.S.-registered Learjet 25.
The 43-year-old who was born and raised in Long Beach, California, is known for her interpretations of Mexican regional music known as nortena and banda.
Rivera spoke about her scare with breast cancer to Fox News Latino earlier this year.
The health scare happened right in the middle of filming the second season of her hit reality series “I Love Jenni,” which debuted March 4th on mun2, but the singer refused to turn off the cameras.
“People need to know that I’m not superwoman, that I have feelings and I cry and that I understand what a woman feels when they go through this,” Rivera said.
Rivera’s tumor was growing and had to be removed, “I wanted to show people that I can identify with this situation, that I’m a woman like everyone else, and I wasn’t exempt from it.”
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.