By Selena Hill (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jun 04, 2013 05:07 PM EDT

The FBI is asking for help in the hunt to find a Rio Grande Valley Marine who was kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico along with his father and uncle, the agency said Monday.

Armando Torres III, a U.S. Marine who has been serving since 2005, was abducted after he crossed the Mexican border to visit his father's ranch in La Barranca, Tamaulipas on May 14, according to a statement on the FBI websiteHis father Armando Torres II and uncle Salvador Torres are both Mexican citizens.

"Shortly after he [Torres] arrived at the ranch, armed gunmen entered the ranch and took all three Torres family members by force. They have not been seen or heard from since this event," the FBI statement reads.

In addition to a criminal investigation in Mexico, the FBI said it was also conducting an "international kidnapping investigation and is vigorously pursuing all investigative leads."

Torres' sister, Cristina, 24, a resident of Virginia, told The Monitor newspaper that the family thought the kidnapping was related to a land dispute because drug traffickers have been trying to get the property since it is close to the border.

She also said that her cousin witnessed the kidnapping.

"She saw a white truck with people in it and they just went in the house and got my brother and my dad and my uncle and just put them in the truck and took off," Cristina Torres said. "They took a lot of their belongings in the house and they took the cars, as well."

Friends and fellow Marines have started a Facebook group called "Get Our Brother Back" in support of Torres, a father of two small children. 

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