Translate page with Google

Project December 20, 2016

The Missing Migrants: Families Search for Answers

Country:

Authors:
Mothers from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala cross from Ciudad Cuahutemoc, Guatemala into Frontera Comalapa, Chiapas, Mexico chanting and demanding justice from the Mexican government. Image by Julysa Sosa. Mexico, 2016.
Mothers from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala cross from Ciudad Cuahutemoc, Guatemala into Frontera Comalapa, Chiapas, Mexico chanting and demanding justice from the Mexican government. Image by Julysa Sosa. Mexico, 2016.

Every year, tens of thousands of Central American migrants make the perilous journey through Mexico in a desperate bid to reach the United States. An untold number never make it. When they disappear, families endure heartbreak and disappointment trying to find out from afar what happened.

But a group of intrepid mothers, wives and fathers from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua are taking action, traversing Mexico as they search for answers often beyond the public view in a land of clandestine graves and brutal drug wars. Facing long odds they visit prisons, march through cities, question politicians in attempt to find clues.

Alongside these efforts, forensic anthropologists are building a regional DNA database to help identify remains when they are found. San Antonio Express-News journalists Aaron Nelsen and Julysa Sosa follow this effort to find out what happened to the missing migrants.

RELATED TOPICS

teal halftone illustration of a family carrying luggage and walking

Topic

Migration and Refugees

Migration and Refugees