| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (25 min. 17 sec.) ; 152990063 bytes |
| Summary |
The number of people missing in Mexico is now over 23,000... each one of them with a family desperately wanting to know where they are and who took them."He was my treasure, no one had the right to take him from me," says mother Sara Cruz.Her son Jose Rodolfo vanished on a regular trip to a local motorbike show."I was watching him and then glanced at the show, and when I turned back to look at him he was gone," she tells reporter Teresa Bo."Where are you? Help me find you... I can't take this any longer."A sign with details about missing Jose Rodolfo hangs in front of her house. Her story is repeated across Mexico, especially in the areas where violent drug cartels vie for control.Recent official figures put the number of missing at 23,271... a figure that has spiralled since the Mexican Government launched its war against cartels in 2006.When Sara went to the police, she was told she needed to wait three days before filing a report. With little official help even then, the single mother now spends her time and money searching for him herself."Many of the investigations that have made progress are because families have done their own investigating," Pedro Mavil says of the search for his missing child.He's one of the many people Teresa meets, each desperately holding a photo of their child, but holding out little hope of finding them alive."It's as if the earth swallowed them, because they are never seen again," says Maria Elena Gutierrez about her missing niece.But a common belief amongst families is that the Mexican authorities themselves are involved in the disappearances. Protests have taken place across the country recently over the disappearance of 43 students in September, with the military accused of involvement. They are now presumed to have been killed.Earlier this month, the UN held a review of Mexico's handling of the disappearances, recommending the government take more action to prevent them and solve existing cases."There is always an inquiry and the state Attorney-General follows that, and of course with federal support," Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong tells Teresa."I would say that violence and disappearances have gone down significantly," he adds.And just last week Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke at a ceremony to mark the Mexican Day of the Army, telling the crowd that "the honour of our armed forces is above any suspicion or doubt." Occasionally mass graves are found, but identification of remains is rare.Juan Antonio Vazquez and Juana Solis Barrios were told to immediately cremate the remains given to them... they don't believe that they really are those of their missing 25-year-old daughter Brenda Damaris.She phoned her parents after being in a minor car accident. The police arrived at the scene, but she was never heard from again."It's really hard on the birthdays, we don't celebrate any more," her mother tells Teresa. "In the morning, we hear something and we think she's returned, she's remembered it's her birthday.""I have the hope that one night we're lying in bed and my daughter comes and talks to me, and I'll go out running," her father says.Dateline follows them as they take the extreme measure of having the remains exhumed in the hope of finally finding the truth. But the results of the tests won't be known for months, leaving yet another family still waiting for the answers they desperately need |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2015-02-24 at 21:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Drug traffic.
|
|
Missing children.
|
|
Missing persons -- Investigation.
|
|
Organized crime.
|
|
Police corruption.
|
|
Kidnapping victims -- Psychology.
|
|
Mexico -- Mexico City.
|
|
Mexico -- Nuevo Leon (State)
|
|
Mexico -- Veracruz (City)
|
| Form |
Streaming video
|
| Author |
Bo, Teresa, reporter
|
|
Barrios, Juana Solis, contributor
|
|
Buscaglia, Edgardo, contributor
|
|
Chong, Miguel Osorio, contributor
|
|
Cruz, Sara, contributor
|
|
Mastrogiovanni, Federico, contributor
|
|
Mavil, Pedro, contributor
|
|
Mora, Franco, contributor
|
|
Ramos, Raymundo, contributor
|
|
Saldana, Carlos, contributor
|
|
Vazquez, Juan Antonio, contributor
|
|
Villasenor, Oralia Guadalupe, contributor
|
|
