Tahnee Shanks: New twist in case of missing Aussie mum

There has been a shock development in the case of Tahnee Shanks, who is missing in Mexico, as her toddler daughter returns to Australia.

A video of a woman being forced into a van was reportedly seized in Mexico as police investigate the disappearance of Australian woman Tahnee Shanks.

Mexican publication Por Esto has published an image of a burnt-out van that is alleged to be evidence in the case.

Police are believed to be investigating whether Ms Shanks and her missing partner Jorge Aguirre Astudillo were targeted by criminals “at random”, the report said.

The footage is part of evidence being examined by the State Attorney General’s Office in Quintana, according to the report.

While authorities have since confirmed the video is not related to Tahnee Shanks, the burnt-out car is the vehicle the couple had been travelling in with their daughter.

Ms Shanks’ daughter Adelynn, 2, is on her way back to Australia with family as the search for her mother in Mexico continues.

The burnt-out car linked to Tahnee Shanks.

The toddler was found abandoned outside a church in Cancun on Monday last week.

Ms Shanks, 32, and Mr Aguirre Astudillo had booked a hotel in the tourist hotspot but then started to travel back to Merida, about two hours away, where they lived.

Then mysteriously, they returned to Cancun where their daughter was found abandoned. Ms Shanks hasn’t been seen since.

Ms Shanks’s brother Ben and mother Leanne travelled from Queensland to Mexico to reunited with the child.

She was issued an emergency Australian passport and is now heading back.

“We just want to get her home. She’s going to be well looked after,” Leanne told 9 News.

“It’s breaking my heart to go without Tahnee.

“We’re leaving knowing that Tahnee is getting searched for in a very professional way, they’re doing an excellent job.”

Adelynn (centre), the daughter of missing woman Tahnee Shanks, is reunited with her mother's family in Mexico. Picture: Supplied.

The family is offering a $5000 reward for anyone with information about Shanks’ whereabouts.

Police are now doing tests on a burnt-out car found in Puerto Morelos, 40 minutes south of Cancun on the same day the toddler was abandoned.

Serial numbers confirmed that the damaged car was the same as the pair were driving.

The details emerged as Mexican authorities said Mr Aguirre Astudillo had been deported from the United States for attacking a police officer there.

He has also been subject to domestic violence complaints against another woman, authorities said.

Óscar Montes de Oca Rosales, general attorney of Quintana Roo, the state that includes Cancun, said police were keeping an open mind on the case.

“We are analysing videos and the chronology of events. They were visiting Cancun for one day, made an hotel reservation, then they went back to Merida, but on the road decided to comeback to Cancun, and that is when the girl’s event takes place,” he said, according to a translation from Spanish.

“The husband would be a line of investigation, since he has a history of family abuse with respect to another couple. We are looking for both.”

Whitsundays woman Tahnee Shanks has gone missing in Mexico. Her daughter Adelynn was found alone at a church. Reports suggest the father is missing too. Picture: Facebook

Mr de Oca Rosales said the investigation was still active, and they were hoping Ms Shanks would be found alive.

“There are some important contributions, but we have to wait until the investigation is over,” he said.

“In the United States he injured an agent, so he was deported to Mexico. In Yucatán, (he) has a domestic violence claim by a previous girlfriend.

“The protocols and the law require us to look for her alive.”

Leanne and Ben have shared a photograph of themselves with Adelynn, who had only met her Australian grandmother when she was born.

Ms Shanks had lived in Mexico for nine years and was unable to return to Australia because of coronavirus travel restrictions.

She was due to return to Australia permanently on June 7 with Adelynn after her relationship with Aguirre Astudillo broke down.

“We already talk with Tahnee’s family, they will give us some details about couples lifestyle, their work and social environment,” Mr de Oca Rosales said.

“At this time, both are victims, they are missing persons, later maybe we can determine if he is responsible for something, so far he is a victim.”

Police in Mexico were checking “highway cameras, phone GPS” and on the ground search for the missing pair.

There were no CCTV cameras near the church where Adelynn was found.

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