Mexico: Third Volunteer Search Activist Killed as They Search for Missing Relatives

Because of the cartel activities around the country, several people have been missing, whether they be innocent bystanders, kidnap targets, relatives of rival gang members, relatives of witnesses and officials, or just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Because of this, many have volunteered to search for missing persons around Mexico. However, they too have been targeted as of late.

A volunteer search activist named Rosario Rodriguez Barraza was found dead last Wednesday in Sinaloa, which is of course the home state of the Sinaloa cartel.

Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya broke the news of her death. He described her as a tireless fighter who was looking for her loved ones, according to the Associated Press.

Rosario Rodriguez Barraza Abducted Near Her Home Before Being Killed

Congresswoman Paloma Sanchez also talked about Rodriguez Barraza. She represents Sinaloa in Mexico's congress and stated that the volunteer search activist was abducted near her home. She was then killed last Tuesday, which is noted as the International Day of the Disappeared. Protests and marches were held throughout Mexico as loved ones and friends decry why many of the people they know are still missing.

Authorities are saying the motives for the abduction and killing of Rodriguez Barraza are still unclear. Volunteer search activists such as her were only looking for their missing loved ones, and have made it clear publicly that they are not looking for evidence to convict killers.

Like many other volunteers, the victim is also a mother of a missing person. Her son, Fernando Ramirez Rodriguez, was abducted in the town of La Cruz, Sinaloa in October 2019. Armed men snatched her son, and were even presenting videos and evidence to authorities, but nothing was heard of him since.

She was part of a volunteer search team, which usually consists of mothers of Mexico's over 100,000 missing people. Their only mission is to find the bodies of their loved ones and to mourn and bury them properly.

A video posted by the volunteer search group known as "Hasta Encontrarles" featured her in a video, saying the phrase "I'm looking for my son, I'm not looking for the culprits."

Volunteers Still Get Threats Despite Saying They Only Want to Find Their Missing Loved Ones

Rodriguez Barraza is the third volunteer search activist killed in Mexico since 2021. This means that even though these groups make their intentions clear, criminal groups are still wary of them.

As they conduct their searches, these women often come with police escorts as they focus on finding graves and identifying the remains of corpses that they have found, according to ABC News. They also get anonymous tips as to where many of the bodies dumped by cartels and other criminal groups can be found.

However, they also get threats from these criminal groups and feel that they are getting watched, presumably by the very people who have murdered their sons, brothers, and husbands.

Another volunteer was killed in 2021 in the neighboring state of Sonora. According to The Hill, Aranza Ramos was found dead, with her body still smoking at a disposal pit. Another victim, Javier Barajas Piña, was gunned down in the state of Guanajuato. It is theorized that cartels may just be angered by the inconvenience these groups have given them, as they call in law enforcement to the areas where they found bodies, as authorities often refuse to conduct the DNA testing necessary to identify corpses unless they were exhumed professionally.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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