Neighbors Of Tepetitlán, Mass Disappearance Number 20 In Jalisco, During This Administration

"Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from EL OCCIDENTAL 

Their family reports that they have been missing since the weekend.

Román Ortega and Elizabeth Ibal | El Occidental

The disappearance of three young people in the town of Santa Ana, Tepetitlan, in Zapopan, is the 20th mass disappearance in Jalisco so far this administration. This time it happened 15 kilometers from the center of the state capital. They are three men of 19, 28 and 38 years of age, who were taken away by the occupants of two vans, escorted by several motorcycles, according to family members expressed to El Occidental.

According to data from the Information System on Victims of Disappearance, as of August 31, there were 14,181 missing persons in Jalisco, of which 12,449 are men and 1,732 are women.

Official data indicate that from December 2018 to August 31 last year, 14,432 people were located, of which 12,178 were found alive and 2,454 were found lifeless.

In the case prior to this event, which occurred in Lagos de Moreno and where the victims were five boys, their whereabouts are still unknown. Their parents maintain that little or almost nothing is being done, while the Security Coordinator, Ricardo Sanchez Bwruben, assures that all instances have been exhausted.

Practically the same claim has been made by the relatives of these three young men who disappeared in Santa Ana Tepetitlan, in the municipality of Zapopan, identified as Jesus Fernando Marquez Diaz, 19 years old, who has a scar on his chin; Sergio Díaz Corona, 38 years old, who has a tattoo with the number 13 on his right hand and a peacock on his right arm, and Julio César Rodríguez Gutiérrez, 28 years old, who has a tattoo with the image of a skull on his left shoulder, the image of Christ on his right arm, an Aztec female figure on his left hand, the legend "Nort" on his chest and a scar on his chin.

His family reports that they have been missing since the weekend. They denounced on Monday, September 25, and last Tuesday night, September 26, accompanied by a group of approximately 70 people, they demonstrated at the intersection of Avenida Lopez Mateos and Camino a Santa Ana Tepetitlan, to demand their immediate search.

Shouting "Alive they were taken and alive we want them!", the demonstrators intermittently blocked López Mateos Avenue in the direction of the peripheral towards San Agustín just below the pedestrian bridge located at the aforementioned intersection. This forced motorists to divert their route on the road to Santa Ana Tepetitlan.

The files of the three were published as of Wednesday, September 27 by the State Search Commission.

Erika Marcela Diaz Corona, mother of José Franciscico and sister of Segio, acknowledges that they already have more information and everything happened when the three were gathered at the intersection of Privada Ejidal and Camino Nacional, just outside a grocery store, and several unknown subjects arrived and took them away by force in at least two pickup trucks, one black and one gray, which were escorted by four motorcycles.

"The neighbors told us that they had seen that one of them had been taken away, they told us to go and see. When we arrived there was nothing there, they had already left and in the course of that we saw that neither his uncle nor the other neighbor arrived and we are in the same situation, thinking that maybe they were also taken," he added in an interview with El Occidental.

The day after the demonstration, the interviewee explains, they were received at the Government Palace where personnel from the Attorney General's Office informed her that they are investigating the case, but so far there are no clues as to the three men. "They told us that they were going to help us, but so far we do not see how they are helping us because they have not found my son. They said they were going to check the cameras, but nothing has been seen, no movement of anything," explained Erika Marcela Diaz Corona. A block away from the scene there is an Urban Shield C5 camera, whose images are already being analyzed by the Attorney General's Office.

Lagos de Moreno, between oblivion and isolated operations

The parents of the five young people who disappeared more than half a year ago in Lagos de Moreno, a town located 187 kilometers away from the capital of the State, are the ones for whom time goes by and there are no answers.

Jose Dolores Lara, Diego Lara Santoyo's father, narrates in detail how in all this time the bodies of seven burned people were located in three different events, but none of them corresponds to the missing youths.

The little information that reaches them is what has been published in the media and social networks. "The truth is that there is nothing, they have not said anything. Everything is the same. Only what comes out in the media, what is coming out in the networks. Right now, no, no, nothing has been confirmed," he said.

José Dolores described his son Diego as a young worker, who from very early in the morning began his work in the family blacksmith's workshop, and as soon as he finished he went to train martial arts.

Last Monday, September 11, a mass was held in the parish of the Assumption, in memory of the five young people who disappeared last August 11, in the Mirador de San Miguel, in that town, and during the ceremony officiated by Monsignor Jorge Alberto Cabazos Arizpe, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of San Juan de los Lagos, he said: "The worst of deaths, death is suffered by natural situations or violence as has happened to our brothers. Today Jesus reminds us with an embrace in our heart, his end, his love, his being with us. Blessed are the men of spirit. I say to all of you, relatives of these brothers, and in reality to all of us, to all of Mexico who want peace and order. Blessed are those who mourn.

Last August 11, Roberto Olmeda, Diego Lara, Galvan, Jaime Adolfo Martinez and Dante Hernandez disappeared. Although investigations continue, to this day nothing is known of them.

As will be recalled, days after their disappearance, a photo and video were released showing one of the young men assaulting another of his friends, in an act of alleged forced recruitment.

In this regard, the Strategic Coordinator of State Security, Ricardo Sanchez Beruben, said: "The work is being done in the search, identification and also in locating those responsible".

"The work that there is in Lagos de Moreno, specifically in the disappearance of these five boys, runs in two aspects. One, the location of the bodies, which with a cabinet work is managed to identify the area of El Mirador, a safe house; subsequently a property that has characteristics with those of this video that is viralized in social networks, then with a brick factory, "added the state official.

Sanchez Beruben expressed that it has not been possible to extract tissue that would help to achieve the genetic confrontation of the remains found in the brick factory with the relatives of the five young people. "As for the genetic test and comparison, the reality is that the remains found in the brick factory were quite deteriorated, which has made it very difficult to extract live tissue to make the comparison".

He recalled that so far there are three people arrested for the discovery of human remains in the brick factory located in the La Orilla del Agua neighborhood.

"There are three detainees, one who was the operator of the brickyard and was located in Teuchitlán, which tells us that he was also trying to escape from the municipality of Lagos de Moreno. Two brothers who also have a more participatory role, a little higher up within a criminal organization, who were located in Queretaro, also shows that they were trying to escape.

Source: EL OCCIDENTAL