Family make tearful plea for abducted Miss Honduras

The family of the reigning Miss Honduras pleaded with police Monday to find their teenage daughter, who was abducted just days before she was set to fly to London for the Miss World contest.

Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and sister Sofia Trinidad have not been heard from since they vanished Thursday outside the northern city of Santa Barbara, and all signs are that the siblings have been kidnapped.

"Days have gone by and we have not heard a thing. The police have to know something," said a tearful Teresa Munoz, their mother.

Alvarado had been set to travel to London on Wednesday for the Miss World competition.

The sisters disappeared after attending a birthday party for Sofia's boyfriend.

"The authorities just have to do their job better," their big sister Cori Alvarado told local media.

National police are working on several leads in the hunt for Alvarado, who is also part of a modeling reality show on Honduran television.

Honduras, an impoverished Central American country with eight million people, is statistically the most violent nation in the world.