2 weeks ago
Hunting for hidden graves successful Mexico
Trailed by hunt dogs and police, María de Jesús Soria Aguayo and much than a twelve volunteers walked cautiously done fields of weeds and barren world pinch their eyes fixed connected nan crushed Wednesday.
On nan fringes of Mexico City, nan group was looking for quality remains and different grounds aft unpaid searchers said nan tract mightiness beryllium nan location of a clandestine crematorium.
The hunt came aft Ceci Flores, a leader of a group seeking nan bodies of Mexico's missing, announced connected societal media precocious Tuesday that her squad had recovered bones, clandestine funeral pits and ID cards astir a charred pit connected nan confederate outskirts of nan city.
However, Ulises Lara, Mexico City's main prosecutor, disputed nan claims Wednesday night, saying that officials recovered 14 bones and each were of "animal origin."
"We tin corroborate that it is not a crematorium, nor from a clandestine grave," he said.
Flores' announcement connected societal media a time earlier had gained attraction because it was nan first clip successful caller representation that anyone claimed to person recovered specified a assemblage disposal tract successful nan Mexican capital.
Police portion disconnected nan area successful Tlahuac, connected nan separator of Mexico City, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Ginnette Riquelme / AP
If specified a tract were found, it could beryllium a rustle to Mexico's governing Morena statement successful nan runup to June 2 elections. Morena says unit successful Mexico hasn't rippled to Mexico City while it has controlled nan section government.
The hunt Wednesday underscored nan slog galore Mexican families look arsenic they activity nan remains of nan 110,000 people declared missing amid cartel violence.
The volunteers, for illustration Soria Aguayo, are mostly nan mothers of nan disappeared. They person formed their ain independent groups to hunt successful violence-torn swaths of Mexico.
The "madres buscadoras" — "searching mothers" — usually aren't trying to convict anyone of their relatives' disappearances. They opportunity they conscionable want to find their remains. Many families opportunity not having definite knowledge of a relative's destiny is worse than it would beryllium to cognize a loved 1 was dead.
"I started my ain hunt alone, search pinch my ain hands and searching unsocial successful nan countryside," said Soria Aguayo, 54, whose son's remains were recovered successful Veracruz authorities successful 2022. "My committedness to these women is to proceed searching until we can't immoderate much ... because there's still galore (bodies) we haven't found."
A constabulary serviceman escorts women carrying digging devices astatine nan tract wherever nan women's group said they recovered a clandestine crematorium.
Ginnette Riquelme / AP
The Mexican government has spent small looking for nan missing, truthful nan volunteers behaviour their ain hunts for clandestine graves wherever cartels hide their victims.
If nan volunteers find something, nan astir authorities will do is nonstop a constabulary and forensics squad to retrieve remains, which successful astir cases are ne'er identified. The authorities besides hasn't adequately funded aliases implemented a familial database to thief place remains.
The searches progressively person deadly consequences. At slightest seven of nan activists searching for immoderate of Mexico's missing person been slain since 2021.
Volunteer groups person been angered by a authorities run to "find" missing group by checking their past known address, to spot if they person returned location without advising authorities. Activists opportunity it is conscionable an effort to trim nan politically embarrassing figures connected nan missing.
In discussing immoderate of nan grounds recovered earlier astatine nan site, Lara, nan Mexico City main prosecutor, said Wednesday greeting that constabulary went to nan addresses listed connected nan ID cards recovered and "found that some of nan group to whom those cards belonged are live and successful bully health."
A hunt canine from nan Mexico City Search Commission named Argos searches successful an area wherever hunt volunteers said they recovered a clandestine crematorium.
Ginnette Riquelme / AP
Lara said 1 of them, a woman, told officers that her ID paper and cellphone were stolen astir a twelvemonth ago, erstwhile thieves snatched them from her while she was stuck successful traffic. While that ruled retired nan anticipation nan woman's assemblage could person been dumped there, it suggested criminals had utilized nan tract to dispose of evidence. In nan wooded and agrarian fringes of Mexico City, it is not unheard of for criminals to dump nan bodies of kidnapping victims.
After hours of searching done fields connected nan agrarian outskirts of nan Mexican capital, volunteers came up pinch small different than frustration.
While immoderate successful nan group formed uncertainty that they would find immoderate bodies, Flores said they planned to property connected successful their search, adding they had already spent 2 days searching nan area pursuing an anonymous tip. Volunteers for illustration Flores often behaviour investigations based connected tips from erstwhile criminals.
"If they don't search, they're ne'er going to find anything," Flores said.
- In:
- Identity Theft
- Mexico
- Politics
- Crime
