Bus ticket provides new lead in teen's disappearance <P>Police want to talk to bus passengers about Laura's disappearance. <BR><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/50802_news_laura.html";>http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/50802_news_laura.html<;/a><P>-----------------------------------------------------------<BR> <BR>By James Irby<BR>ABC 13 Eyewitness News<BR>(5/8/02) — It's been almost two months since 13-year-old Laura Ayala vanished without a trace but now there are new leads in that desperate search. <BR> <BR>Jay Sosa with HPD homicide, describes the promising lead. <P>Laura Ayala was last seen near her home on March 10. Both her family and authorities are not giving up hope that she will be found.<BR>HPD investigators have some information they hope will bring Laura home. The latest information includes some bus tickets from El Expreso Bus Company. A woman bought a ticket for a girl named Laura A. The agent at the counter doesn't remember a last name. The bus driver says he remembers a girl fitting Laura's description traveling with a man and woman to McAllen, Texas. That bus went on to Reynosa, Mexico.<P>Ayala has been missing since March 10, when she disappeared from a convenience store near her home. Since then exhaustive searches have turned up few clues and no sign of Laura. Investigators say this latest lead could be a big break in the case.<P>In all there were 13 people on that bus to McAllen, Texas, around 10:30pm on March 13. Investigators would like to talk to anyone on that bus, especially the man and woman traveling with a girl only known as Laura A.<P>"On that bus, we were able to find that three passengers left Houston to McAllen, Texas, and then continued on to Reynosa, Mexico," said Jay Sosa of HPD's homicide division. "Now one of the passengers on that bus was a young girl, and the ticket that was matched up on that same bus came back to Laura A. We're not saying this is Laura Ayala, but it's a lead that we're following."<P>Laura's family is very hopeful that this lead will help bring Laura back home.<P>"It gives us a little bit of hope that she's ok, that she's alive," said Laura's sister Susan Rebolla.<P>That man and woman who were traveling with this Laura A. are wanted for questioning. The woman's name is Viginia Ramirez. She's in her mid-30s, 5'5", 120 pounds with wavy shoulder length hair. She was last seen wearing a light blue dress.<P>The man she was traveling with is Julio Barrios. He was traveling to Reynosa, Mexico, also. He is in his mid-40s, 5'8", 160 pounds with salt and pepper hair and a mustache. He was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.<P>If you have any information on this case, you're asked to call Crimestoppers at 713-222-TIPS. <P>Last Updated: May 8, 2002<P> <BR> <BR>