Jenni Rivera Missing: Latin Singer Presumed Killed In Plane Crash [UPDATED]

Mexico City – Singer Jenni Rivera is missing after a plane that she was flying in lost contact with air traffic controllers in Mexico early Sunday morning, according to officials.

CNN reports that two pilots and four other passengers are also missing. According to Mexico’s transportation ministry, the plane is suspected to have crashed. The plane took off from Monterrey, Mexico, at 3:15am, and lost contact with air traffic controllers about 60 miles away from its initial point, said the statement.

According to a post on her website, the Mexican-American Rivera performed in the northern Mexican city on Saturday night. The website is currently down due to high volume, presumably due to fans who picked up the news on Twitter and are anxious for more information.

The 43-year-old singer is best known for her work within the banda and norteña music genres. She has been active in the industry since 1992, and her tenth studio album, Jenni, became her first number-one in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States. It was released in 2008.

Rivera lives in Encino, California with her five children and grand-daughters. She is the sister of fellow singer Lupillo Rivera.

Every Mexican is flipping out right now cause of Jenni Rivera.

— Jigaboo. (@LovelyGoon_) December 9, 2012

I don’t understand why people are saying Jenni Rivera is dead . . . She’s missing but she can still be alive. — Esmeralda Bieber ♥ (@OhItsLoveex3) December 9, 2012

Rivera is herself a highly-active Twitter user, and boasts 1.3 million followers. This was her last tweet, 11 hours ago as of this posting:

RT @big_smashj390: La bateria de mi tablet muere y tu ni una pinche mentada neta que eso no es se dios he … m.tmi.me/C0Q0R

— Jenni Rivera (@jennirivera) December 9, 2012

There are still very few details in this breaking story, so it’s hard to speculate as to Rivera’s survival chances without knowing more about the suspected crash. Still, our thoughts are with Jenni Rivera, her friends, and her family in this difficult time. Hopefully we’ll have some good news for you soon. Check back for updates.

UPDATE: Mexico’s Civil Aeronautics authority (DGAC) confirmed on its website this afternoon that it has “initiated investigations about the alleged fall of a plane owned by Starwood Management with tags N345MC, which took place this morning in the state of Nueva León.” Rivera’s management told Billboard that “nothing is confirmed.”

UPDATE: AP is reporting that the plane carrying Jenni Rivera has been found by authorities in Mexico. While the wreckage has not officially been confirmed to be Rivera’s plane, which went missing earlier today, we must report with a heavy heart that there are no apparent survivors in the fuselage.

Transportation and communication minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza tells Mexican television that the plane was found in Nuevo Leon state without survivors. He said that “everything points toward it being the plane” that Rivera was on. “The aircraft was destroyed, totally fragmented,” he said.