A mum-of-two was found tortured to death with all of her teeth missing a day after she was reported missing.
Lizbeth Flores had crossed the US border into Mexico but her worried mum alerted the police after she failed to return home to Texas later that night.
María Rubio said her daughter traveled to the border city of Matamoros on August 9 and said she would be back in Brownsville later the same day.
A missing person report was then filed by Ms Rubio with Brownsville Police Department on August 10 before Ms Flores' body was found the following day.
According to reports, Ms Flores had made the trip to visit her boyfriend.
Her body showed signs that she’d been tortured.
Investigators have said she died after being beaten with a rock found at the scene, while part of her scalp and her teeth had been removed.
Her body was also said to be covered in bruises.
Ms Rubio said she is haunted by the idea of the pain her daughter must have gone through and is hoping to repatriate her remains.
She told Telemundo: "Losing a child is like having your heart ripped out.
"I feel very sad for what they did to my daughter. How they left her is what pains me. The pain that my daughter went through there at that time is what pains me."
No arrests have been announced, while the FBI is understood to be involved in the case.
Ms Flores was a graduate of Los Fresnos High School and leaves behind two children.
