FBI looking for endangered disabled woman taken from Battle Ground last year

SEATTLE — The FBI’s Seattle Field Office is asking for the public’s help to find an endangered disabled woman who was taken from Battle Ground, Washington by a family member last year.

Marisol Cortes, 31, is considered endangered because police believe she is being deprived of required daily medication. Not having her needed medications could result in serious harm or death.

Cortes has medical conditions including autism and epilepsy, which have left her with a full physical and mental disability. She does not speak, but English is spoken around her.

The FBI said Cortes was taken from Battle Ground by an elderly family member around Nov. 4, 2021, after the family member discovered that other relatives were trying to gain custody of Cortes.

Family members started the court process to gain custody because they believed that the person caring for Cortes was unable and unwilling to give her the required care, according to a news release from the FBI.

The court agreed with the petition and a new legal guardian was appointed. The Clark County Superior Court also issued a vulnerable adult protection order against the family member believed to have taken Cortes from her family and continues to hide her location from police and other family members.

Cortes is a white Hispanic woman who is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, 130 pounds with brown eyes and dark brown hair. She wears glasses and should wear a helmet, due to her epilepsy.

Her family has ties to Idaho, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Washington.

Anyone with information about Cortes’ location is asked to call the FBI’s Seattle Field Office at 206-622-0460. You may also contact a local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or submit a tip online anonymously at tips.fbi.gov.

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