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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Video circulating on social media appears to show the moment masked men kidnapped a popular influencer in Mexico.
Nicole Pardo Molina, 20, was abducted from a shopping plaza in the Isla Musala neighborhood of Culiacán around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, local news outlets reported.
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A 40-second clip shared on social media shows a white Toyota Corolla pulling up near Pardo Molina as she gets out her Tesla Cybertruck, the outlets said. Two men, one covering his face, are seen briefly struggling with the woman before forcibly putting her in their car and driving off.
The video was recorded by cameras in Pardo Molina's Cybertruck, according to the reports.
The Context
Culiacán, a city of 1 million residents, is the capital of western Mexico's Sinaloa state. The city is home to the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and considered one of the most dangerous in Mexico.
Homicides and violence have surged in the city since a power struggle between rival Sinaloa cartel factions erupted in 2024. Meanwhile, influencers have been threatened or even killed after promoting or alluding to support for rival factions, the newspaper El País reported.
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What To Know
The Attorney General's Office of the State of Sinaloa has activated the Alba Protocol, a mechanism to search for missing women, for Pardo Molina.
According to an alert from the attorney general's office, she was last seen in Culiacán on Tuesday.
Local news outlets reported, citing a statement from Sinaloa authorities, that investigators were looking into whether the kidnapping was possibly related to Los Mayos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel loyal to former cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.
The statement said Pardo Molina managed a site called Nicholette Shop through which she sold various items, including caps with references to Joaquín Guzmán Loera and Los Chapitos, a rival faction of the cartel.
Pardo Molina is a resident of El Salado in the Sinaloa state, and she was known in the area for her personalized lilac Cybertruck, El País reported.
The influencer was born in the United States and frequently travels between Mexico and Phoenix, where her parents still live, according to the newspaper.
Also known as La Nicholette, she shares content on various social media platforms—including YouTube, OnlyFans and Instagram, where she has more than 180,000 followers.
What Happens Next
The search for Pardo Molina is ongoing.
Authorities have asked that anyone with information on Pardo Molina's whereabouts get in touch.
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