Mothers searching for the remains of their missing children have discovered at least a dozen bodies after digging on a property in the Maclovio Rojas area in the far east of Tijuana since January 2.
The women said they received an anonymous tip about the location. According to them, the tipster described the property as a possible safe house and landfill for a criminal organization.
Thousands of parents and family members have formed collectively throughout Mexico to help each other search for the remains of their missing children. In Baja, California, there are hundreds of members looking for lovers in love, with at least eight such parent collectives.
The collective organizes searches and demonstrations in response to what they call the indifference of the Mexican government to protecting or locating their missing children. They are also working together to get the attention of state investigators about alleged clandestine graves such as those in Maclovio Rojas.
A woman with a shovel walks to a house in the Maclovio Rojas area of eastern Tijuana.
(Baja California Prosecutor’s Office)
Because the Maclovio Rojas location is considered private property, the search party was not legally allowed to enter the premises to dig for the remains of their children themselves. On January 2, investigators went to the property with the Office of the Attorney General of Baja California and located a body. Investigators packed up and left the same day.
State officials did not say who owned the property.
The mothers angrily picked up their own diggers and started digging, without breaking any laws, they say. They dug for days and insisted that more bodies be buried on the property, while government officials refused to investigate.
According to the prosecutor’s office and the mothers, the parent group finally found another 12 bodies in the next two weeks.
“We really have no choice. The state has no choice but to break the law to get answers for the disappearance of our children, “said Bárbara Martínez, whose search for her missing son made international news last year. ‘I know some mothers sometimes think of getting more than just answers. Can you imagine yourself? Sicario [hit man] mammas. But I just want to bury my sons. I’m not even asking for justice. ”
The Maclovio Rojas website is the second piece of private property that the search teams in Tijuana have entered into to search for surplus. They say there are still dozens like it. Historically, parents have concentrated their searches on remote areas, but they say that cartels have changed tactics and are now hiding bodies near their safe homes in urban areas, making it more dangerous and difficult to dig.
The Maclovio Rojas property has a house, an outdoor room, a garden and two large trees on the premises. The hidden burial site was located in the northwest corner of the site. Led by anonymous tipsters, mothers also found another body in the southeast corner.
While Martínez was searching for her missing son César, her other son, Esteban (17), went missing in December. Esteban was last arrested in the coastal town of Rosarito by local police, his mother said.
Martínez said it is possible that the remains of one of her sons were found in Maclovio Rojas, but he will have to wait months until the prosecutor does DNA tests to find out.
State Attorney Hiram Sanchez, downtown, is touring January 16 through a property in eastern Tijuana where parents dug up the remains of at least a dozen people.
(Baja California Prosecutor’s Office)
Angélica Ramírez is also looking for a missing loved one. She said the parents initially received little help from authorities.
‘[The prosecutor] told me he could not support me and that he could not even give us security because it would commit a crime [by entering the premises], and he told me to send the information to him, ”Ramírez said of state prosecutor Hiram Sanchez.
She later said she appreciated Sanchez arriving at the property when they found human remains, as he had promised.
Ramírez is a member of the Una Nación Busca T, a collective that led this search. She said the group had to raise his money to rent a machine to help them clear enough earth to find the remains.
Sanchez said the state does not have the necessary funds to employ the staff needed to properly investigate every missing person or murder case. Already this year, there have been more than 100 murders in Tijuana. He said his office was reviewing the forensic evidence gathered at Maclovio Rojas’ place and gathering DNA collection from the missing family members to identify the decomposed bodies.
“Each of the corpses has certain conditions, such as how long they were there and in what condition they were, which determine how we should proceed with the forensic practice,” Sanchez said. He said he visited the property to support his parents for ‘their great effort’ and to show them that the Attorney General’s office is supporting them in their need.
“Even without investigating it, it is logical that these are the victims of the fight to sell drugs on the street in the eastern part of the city,” a government agent told Zeta Weekly, an investigative newspaper. He added that the criminals were apparently trying to avoid the attention of the police by hiding the bodies under their safe houses.
Fry writes for the San Diego Union Tribune.