Mexico searches for abducted U.S. anti-kidnap expert

(CNN) -- Mexican officials on Tuesday were investigating the presumed abduction of a U.S. expert in kidnapping in northeastern Mexico.

The incident occurred last Wednesday when Felix Batista of Miami, Florida, was in a restaurant with several other people north of the city of Saltillo, Mexico, the Coahuila state attorney general's office said in a written statement.

He received a phone call and, "after speaking for a few minutes, left the restaurant, telling his colleagues that several people in a white pickup truck were going to give him a message," the statement said.

"Afterward, outside the business, at about 7 p.m., he got into a vehicle with different characteristics from those he had mentioned to his colleagues and, since then, no one has had any communication with him."

There was no indication of violence at the scene, the statement said.

Batista teaches courses and conferences about personal and corporate security and serves as an adviser after people have been kidnapped, according to the statement added.

Batista had been in Saltillo since December 6, the statement said, working on several matters related to business and giving talks about kidnappings to a business group in the cities of Saltillo and Torreon.

Kidnappings and violence reached record levels in Mexico this year.

Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said this month that organized-crime killings soared to 5,376 in 2008, more than double the 2,477 deaths in Mexico in 2007.

All About Mexico • Kidnapping