The wreckage of a small plane believed to be carrying Mexican-American singing superstar Jenni Rivera was found in northern Mexico on Sunday and there are no apparent survivors, authorities said.

Transportation and Communications Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said that ``everything points toward'' it being the U.S.-registered Learjet 25 carrying Rivera and six other people from Monterrey en route to Toluca, Mexico. The plane had gone missing after takeoff early Sunday.

``There is nothing recognizable, neither material nor human'' in the wreckage,'' Ruiz Esparza told the Televisa network.

Authorities had not confirmed that Rivera was among the dead.

Jorge Domene, spokesman for Nuevo Leon's government, said the plane left Monterrey about 3:30 a.m. after Rivera gave a concert there and aviation authorities lost contact with the craft about 10 minutes later. It had been scheduled to arrive in Toluca, outside Mexico City, about an hour later.

Also aboard the plane were her publicist, lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew.

The 43-year-old who was born and raised in Long Beach, California, is one of the biggest stars of the Mexican regional style known as grupero music, which is influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchera styles.

The so-called ``Diva de la Banda'' was beloved by fans on both sides of the border for such songs as ``De Contrabando'' and ``La Gran Senora.''

She recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: Female Artist of the Year and Banda Album of the Year for ``Joyas prestadas: Banda.''

The singer, businesswoman and actress appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown, and has her own reality shows including ``I Love Jenni'' and ``Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis and Raq-C'' and her daughter's ``Chiquis `n Control.''

Rivera had given a concert before thousands of fans in Monterrey on Saturday night. After the concert she gave a press conference during which she spoke of her emotional state following her recent divorce from former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza, who played for teams including the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

``I can't get caught up in the negative because that destroys you. Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do. I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman,'' she said Saturday night. ``The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up.''

The mother of five children and grandmother of two had announced in October that she was divorcing Loaiza after two years of marriage. It was her third marriage.

Rivera is the sister of Mexican singer Lupillo Rivera. Patricia Chavez of Lupillo Rivera's office in the United States told The AP that ``for now we don't have any information that would be useful.'' (AP)

<관련 한글 기사>

女가수 실종사건, 결국 비극적인 결말로...

실종된 것으로 알려졌던 멕시코계 미국 여가수 제니 리베라 (43)가 탔던 비행기가 9일 (현지시간) 북부 멕시코에서 발견되었다고 AP통신 등 외신이 보도했다. 생존자는 없는 것으로 알려졌다.

멕시코 교통 통신부 장관 제랄도 루이즈 에스파르자는 이번에 발견된 비행기가 “모든 면에서 볼 때” 실종된 여가수 외 그녀의 변호사, 홍보 담당자, 변호사 등 총 일곱 명이 탔던 리어제트기 (미국의 자가용 소형 제트기)일 가능성이 높다고 발표했다.

사고 현장에는 엉망이 된 잔해만이 남아있어 현재로서는 희생자들의 신원을 파악하기가 불가능하다고 그는 덧붙였다.

이 비행기는 이날 오전 3시 30분께 북부 도시인 몬테레이에서 몬테레이에서 이륙해 멕시코 시티에 도착할 예정이었으나, 이륙 후 10분만에 통신이 두절되었다. 리베라는 사고 전날 몬테레이에서 콘서트를 열었다.

미국 캘리포니아 롱비치 출신의 리베라는 ‘그루페로’라고 알려진 멕시코 대중가요에서 가장 유명한 가수 중 하나이다.

그녀는 최근 빌보드 멕시칸  뮤직 어워즈에서 “올해의 여자가수” 상 “올해의 앨범” 상 등을 수상한 바 있다.