Volunteer Searcher in Guanajuato Goes Missing; Brother Kidnapped, Husband and Son Killed

"Anonymous" for Borderland Beat

Missing persons search activist Lorenza Cano Flores was kidnapped by a group of gunmen on Wednesday in the city of Salamanca, Guanajuato.

The Salamanca United in the Search for the Disappeared, Cano's search group, verified that her husband and son (Miguel and Miguel Angel) were fatally shot by unidentified attackers just days before the kidnapping. According to reports, the two resided in the US but were visiting Salamanca at the time.

Cano has been in search of her brother, José Francisco Cano Flores, since August 17, 2018, when he was abducted by armed individuals along with one of his uncles. Presently, Cano's daughter is the sole remaining relative participating in these searches and is the one who has informed authorities about Cano's abduction.

Since 2021, a minimum of seven volunteer searchers have lost their lives in Mexico. These individuals often initiate their independent investigations, frequently relying on information from former criminals. This approach becomes necessary as the government has proven ineffective in providing assistance.

The Mexican government has allocated minimal resources to search for the missing. Volunteers are forced to take on the role of non-existent official search teams as they seek out clandestine graves where cartels often bury their victims. Insufficient private and public funding and the poor implementation of a genetic databases by the government slow down the identification process for the discovered remains.

Shifts in government also result in the loss or erasure of missing person profiles, creating challenges in gathering and maintaining information.

When search groups find human remains, the typical response from authorities is to dispatch a police and forensics team to recover the remains. Unfortunately, in many instances, the recovered remains go unidentified.

The perpetrators behind the killings of the six searchers since 2021 remain unclear. Cartels have a history of attempting to intimidate searchers, particularly if they venture to grave sites still in use.

The searchers typically are not aiming to convict anyone for their relatives' abductions. Their primary goal is to locate the remains of their loved ones in order to mourn them and conduct a proper burial. According to searchers, individuals who have repented or left the cartels are likely the most effective sources of information they can rely on.

In Mexico, over 110,000 people are missing since the start of Mexico's drug war in 2006. Many of the missing persons are from Guanajuato, the state with the highest homicide rate in Mexico. Guanajuato is home to a violent turf war between multiple cartels, primarily factions of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL) and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). 

Sources: El Pais; WP