A new theory and a strange final text: What we know about Tahnee Shanks' disappearance.

The disappearance of Tahnee Shanks has been the centre of headlines and news attention across the globe – but particularly in Australia and Mexico.

The Australian woman had been living in Merida, Mexico, with her partner Jorge Aguirre Estudillo. The pair have a daughter together – two-year-old Adelynn. And while taking their daughter on a holiday in Cancun last week, things seemingly took a turn.

On Sunday May 1, Cancun locals found Adelynn alone outside a church. An urgent message was then posted to Facebook alerting the local community that a child had been found unattended. 

Investigators believe Adelynn was "dumped" at the church by her father late at night, leaving her to wander the streets. The fear is now for the safety of her mother, Tahnee, who has been reported missing, along with Jorge. 

Here's everything we know about the case. 

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Tahnee's life in the lead up to her disappearance.

Tahnee was born and raised in The Whitsundays region of Queensland. 

When she was 18, she went overseas to travel. While in Mexico, she met her daughter's father and the family have remained in the country ever since. Tahnee's brother Daniel has since revealed that recently Tahnee was trying to relocate back to Australia. 

"Tahnee's been trying to get Addy home to Australia for months now," he said.

Jorge Aguirre Estudillo and Tahnee had reportedly split up after Estudillo had been involved with another woman and got her pregnant. That woman has been in contact with Tahnee's Australian family since. 

After the messy breakup, Tahnee was trying to come back to Australia with Adelynn, and Daniel has said that Estudillo had "agreed to sign the paperwork for her to come home". Tahnee was then waiting to receive her toddler's passport and had booked plane tickets to arrive in Australia on June 22.

But in early May, Daniel grew worried when he couldn't reach his sister.

Image: Facebook. Adelynn is abandoned and found alone. 

Once Adelynn was located and safe, she was put in the care of child protection agency DIF. 

Witnesses say they saw a man pass Adelynn to a stranger in front of a church. Witnesses have also alleged that the man they saw Adelynn with was her father. But this has later been proven as hearsay. 

Daniel discovered via a Facebook post that Adelynn had been abandoned, with a news alert going viral that his niece had been found wandering alone near a church. He had been alerted by a previous ex-boyfriend of Tahnee's who had got in touch with Daniel after recognising the young girl. When Daniel then saw the images of Adelynn, he immediately knew it was her.

"We contacted them [the person who posted] straight away to let them know who she is," he said. "She was just apparently walking the streets of Cancun with no parental supervision." 

Daniel grew worried, as his recent communications with Tahnee via text message didn't feel right to him. Almost like he was speaking to someone else. 

"The online messages said she was in a small fishing village with bad reception. The messages didn't seem right… I'm assuming I was talking to him," Daniel told the ABC.

UPDATE: An abandoned toddler is now in the custody of her Australian relatives in Mexico. 2yo Adelynn has been issued an emergency Aus passport.
The search for her mother continues.@9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/fJpaQyJaEB

— Michael Genovese (@GenoveseMichael) May 7, 2022

Tahnee's disappearance.

As investigations began into how Adelynn had been left on her own, it was soon realised that Tahnee was unreachable. Tahnee's other brother, Ben, spoke to 7News about his sister's disappearance, saying his family and friends are fearing the worst.

"She's never off social media and she would never leave that girl. That's the scariest thing. We know Tahnee wouldn't leave that girl on her own. We don’t know whether she's lost or not wanting to be found, or it's suspicious and something bad has happened. We're fearing the worst. Addy is her whole life. For this to happen is just tragic and heartbreaking."

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Daniel said to 2GB: "To be honest, I think she's already gone."

As a family friend wrote on social media, "She is a very dedicated mother and would never abandon her daughter. Something serious had to happen for the little girl to find herself alone."

Ben and his family then decided to file a missing person's report with Mackay Police in Queensland, to help locate their loved one. Mackay Acting Inspector Anthony Cowan said authorities have been unable to get in contact with Tahnee or her ex-partner.

"We have absolutely no idea of their whereabouts at the moment. The only thing we have is the child’s been located and we can’t contact or find the parents," he said earlier in the week.

A spokesperson from the Queensland Police Service also said their organisation was liaising with the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to communicate with Mexican authorities.

Image: Facebook. 

Adelynn is reunited with Tahnee's family.

In mid-May Tahnee's mum Leanne and brother Ben travelled from Queensland to Mexico to see Adelynn.

Adelynn had received an emergency Australian passport in order to be brought back to Queensland. Leanne told reporters outside the departure terminal that it was "breaking her heart" to leave Mexico without her daughter. 

"I just can't even grasp what's happening. At the moment we can't even get our heads around it. We're leaving knowing that Tahnee is getting searched for in a very professional way," they said regarding the Mexican authorities' investigation.

Adelynn had previously been cared for by Mexican child welfare authorities before her relatives arrived. 

Reports suggest Adelynn hasn't had much contact with Tahnee's Australian family due to the pandemic and border restrictions.

Ben told 7News about being reunited with Adelynn, saying: "She's great, she's taken to us a lot better than I thought she would. I thought she would be scared, she doesn't know us that well, she's been brave."

While police won't say whether Estudillo is a suspect in Tahnee's disappearance, they're looking closely at "his personal life, business dealings and criminal background".

UPDATE: An abandoned toddler is now in the custody of her Australian relatives in Mexico. 2yo Adelynn has been issued an emergency Aus passport.
The search for her mother continues.@9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/fJpaQyJaEB

— Michael Genovese (@GenoveseMichael) May 7, 2022

The theories surrounding Tahnee and Jorge's disappearance.

Nikita Weller, a close friend of Tahnee's, spoke to 60 Minutes this week about Tahnee's disappearance.

"Ade is found in Cancun. 40 minutes later, their car is found fully burnout from the inside out. Something must have happened in that timeline. She found out he was into some shady stuff - she didn't say what but it scared her enough to want to come home. I told her 'I think you need to come home somehow'."

It was also revealed that in the days prior to her disappearance, Tahnee had sent some worrying texts to her loved ones, along the lines of '...just in case anything happens to me. Remember he is a criminal.'

Investigators are now trying to piece together what happened, with the couple both seen alive for the last time in the state of Quintana Roo.

Quintana Roo general attorney Óscar Montes de Oca Rosales told 60 Minutes that law enforcement was investigating possible links between Jorge and the Mexican cartel. Tahnee has been cleared, but Jorge is accused of being an alleged fraudster, selling fake holiday packages. Investigators also believe he was a cartel member who has fallen foul of the Mexican crime organisations. 

The fear is that their dual disappearance could be "payback for Jorge's dirty dealings".

According to friend Nikita Weller, Tahnee Shanks had discovered her former partner Jorge was involved in some shady dealings. She was scared enough to send a disturbing message to other friends, which #60Mins can reveal for the first time. pic.twitter.com/8U6fToR24m

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) May 29, 2022

"What I can say is maybe they were being followed. That could have happened. He had been threatened before and had even hired a bodyguard before and he was afraid for his life," the Quintana Roo general attorney said.

Tahnee's brother Ben said there have been two major theories surrounding the case. 

"The first scenario was that Jorge had done it - that's where we went first that he had done something to Tahnee," he said on 60 Minutes. But it appears that theory has taken a backseat and that investigators believe the cartel influence is more pressing to why Tahnee and Jorge have disappeared. 

As the general attorney said - "We make no sense in Jorge leaving Adelynn. It makes no sense. We would like to assume that [the people who left Adelynn at the church] are the same involved in Jorge and Tahnee's disappearance."

Image: Facebook.

Given Tahnee and Jorge's car was found burnout 40 kilometres away from where their daughter was found only 40 minutes prior, it is feared they were met with foul play.

Police believe the car was set on fire "professionally" and that they "could only lift four numbers from the number plates and the way it was burnt was [professional]".

How Adelynn is doing.

It was for these reasons and the cartel connection that Tahnee's mum, Leanne and brother Ben knew they wanted to get Adelynn home immediately. 

"We were worried about someone else grabbing her. We just wanted her back home with us. She's just unbelievable that child - I can't speak enough of how great she is."

They continued - "It was very heart-wrenching. We wouldn't have left [Mexico without Tahnee] if that little girl wasn't involved. We were hoping by the time we got there she would be found, but nothing. Just vanished. Sitting over here feeling like you're doing nothing it's pretty hard. I know they are just doing their job over there but not receiving any information makes it even harder."

Describing Adelynn as a "happy, content beautiful little spirit" they have put up a cash reward in Mexico for anyone who provides information that leads to finding her. 

"We're putting up a million pesos, but if we had more we would put up whatever we could to get Tahnee back."

This article was originally published on May 10 2022, and was updated on May 30, 2022. 

Feature Image: Facebook.