Shock twist in case of Aussie mum Tahnee Shanks missing in Mexico

Mexican police have reportedly seized video of a woman being forced into a van as part of their investigation into missing Aussie mum Tahnee Shanks.

Mexican police have reportedly seized video of a woman being forced into a van as part of their investigation into missing Aussie mum Tahnee Shanks.

A photo of a burnt-out van was published by Mexican publication Por Esto, which reported police are investigating whether Ms Shanks and her missing partner Jorge Aguirre Estudillo were targeted by criminals “at random”.

The van, which matches the serial number of the car the couple were driving, was found in Puerto Morelos, 40 minutes south of Cancun where the couple’s two-year-old daughter Adelynn was found abandoned barefoot outside a church last week.

The burnt-out car linked to Tahnee Shanks.

Footage of the woman is part of the evidence being examined by the State Attorney General’s Office in Quintana.

The new developments in the investigation come after Mexican authorities revealed a strange detail about the final movements of the 32-year-old Australian woman.

Ms Shanks, who was living in Merida, Mexico, had booked a hotel in Cancun with her partner Mr Estudillo.

But they were already on their way back home when they mysteriously returned to the famous beach town where their daughter was found last Sunday night, local time.

Adelynn has been reunited with her mother’s family. Picture: Supplied

“We are analysing videos and the chronology of events,” Óscar Montes de Oca Rosales, general attorney of Quintana Roo, told media, according to a translation.

“They were visiting Cancun for one day, made an hotel reservation, then they went back to Merida, but on the road decided to come back to Cancun, and that is when the girl’s event takes place.”

He said Mr Estudillo had been deported to Mexico from the United States after attacking a police officer there and a previous girlfriend had made domestic violence complaints against him.

However, while he would be a line of investigation, Mr de Oca Rosales said Mr Estudillo was being treated as a victim.

Police say Jorge Aguirre Estudillo is being treated as a ‘victim’. Picture: Facebook

“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,” he said.

Witnesses have claimed Mr Estudillo left Adelynn at the church.

On the same day Adelynn was found, the car the pair was travelling in was found burnt out.

Adelynn, affectionately known as Addy, has been reunited with Ms Shanks’ family from Queensland.

She was granted an emergency visa.

Ms Shanks’ brother Ben and mother Leanne were spotted with Adelynn at the airport on Monday ready to return home to Australia.

“It’s breaking my heart to go without Tahnee,” Leanne told Nine News.

Ms Shanks’ family believe she was on the verge of returning to Australia herself after a relationship breakdown with Mr Estudillo.

The family is offering a $5000 reward for information.

– With Chantelle Francis