Authorities deny reports that Mexican police chief has fled

Mexican authorities have denied published reports that Marisol Valles Garcia - the 20-year-old criminology student who made headlines when she became the police chief in the town of Praxedis G. Guerrero, Mexico - had left the country for the United States and was seeking asylum. Valles Garcia grabbed international attention in 2010 when she took over the top job in a police force whose officers have been abducted and killed. Praxedis Mayor Jose Luis Guerrero said that Valles Garcia is on personal leave because her 8-month-old baby is sick. Praxedis is one of the most violent municipalities in the border state of Chihuahua. It is located about 35 miles southeast of Ciudad Juarez, one of the bloodiest cities in world. Mexico's El Diario newspaper had reported that Valles Garcia had received death threats and fled to the the United States. The newspaper said that she was seeking asylum The news service Agence France-Presse also reported that Valles Garcia had fled to the United States and was seeking asylum. Guerrero, the mayor in Praxedis, said that Valles Garcia is not answering her phone and several of her neighbors said it is an open secret that she has fled to the United States. Many said they were afraid to give their names to a reporter, as violence related to drug cartels is rampant in the region. In 2010, Valles Garcia was the only person who accepted the top police job. Around the time she took the post, a 59-year-old local mayor, Rito Grado Serrano, and his 37-year-old son, Rigoberto Grado Villa, were killed in a house in which they were hiding in nearby Ciudad Juarez. Another area mayor was killed in June 2010.