Mexico Unidentified US-Mexico Border Project

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I saw the image. Extremely, extremely graphic.
If you Google Brooks County and images you will see it and many others.
He had been there for awhile.

I looked at it....very graphic. Immensely sad. It looks like his feet (when they were still there) would have touched the ground -almost- was it a way to torture? Also it looks like he was balding...the hair is the last thing to go....
 
I looked at it....very graphic. Immensely sad. It looks like his feet (when they were still there) would have touched the ground -almost- was it a way to torture? Also it looks like he was balding...the hair is the last thing to go....

Just wonder, why do they think this was a migrant anyways?
 
“We have 52,000 unidentified bodies across the country, but we don’t know if there are more," said Cruz Bernal, 52, leader of Sabuesos Guerreras (which translates as “warrior bloodhounds”), a civil association in Sinaloa state that is one of over 70 groups that make up the Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico, or MNDM, an organization that recently published a report called “The Forensic Crisis in Mexico.”

“We live searching the mountains and rivers without knowing that, perhaps, many of them are in a common grave,” Cruz Bernal said of the missing.

The groups’ report documents the expansion of two “parallel and overlapping” crises: more missing people and more unidentified bodies. The report documents two figures: 91,318 people missing haven’t been found (since 1964, when the records began) and more than 52,000 dead haven’t been identified, because of failures and delays in the Mexican forensic system.

The researchers warned that 52,000 is the minimum number of unidentified dead people recognized by state agencies; they estimated “that there are many more.” They also highlighted that 60 percent of remains are found in mass graves in public cemeteries, which have inadequate records and a “high probability of loss of bodies.”
'We live searching': Mexico families look for the missing, while 52,000 aren't identified

If you think someone has been left in the desert, contact Colibri Center immediately.
Then click here and here for more missing persons resources.
http://missingfrommexico.com/resources-for-missing-persons-searches/

ICMP - International Commission on Missing Persons

View Yellow Notices

The Baja California Human Rights Commission has received more than a dozen complaints so far this year from families who say state investigators have done very little to look for their missing loved ones. Now, citizens have created a website to help.

According to the state’s attorney general’s office, there are almost 13,000 people who have been reported missing since 2007.

The site is called Desaparecer en Baja California; translated, it means Missing in Baja California.

It also tracks clandestine pits where bodies have been found throughout the region.

“This phenomenon of secret grave sites is a black stain on Baja California,” said Renata Demichelis Ávila, founder of the missing persons’ website.

Demichelis added they will update statistics and information every three months.

“The main problem facing the families of missing people, who were taken by force, is there’s no follow through on the part of investigators and there’s no place to get information,” Demichelis said.

According to her, the website was created primarily as a database to help the families while updating information about people who have vanished, something that has increased in recent years, not only in Baja California, but across Mexico.
Citizens establish missing persons website in Tijuana
 
“We have 52,000 unidentified bodies across the country, but we don’t know if there are more," said Cruz Bernal, 52, leader of Sabuesos Guerreras (which translates as “warrior bloodhounds”), a civil association in Sinaloa state that is one of over 70 groups that make up the Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico, or MNDM, an organization that recently published a report called “The Forensic Crisis in Mexico.”

“We live searching the mountains and rivers without knowing that, perhaps, many of them are in a common grave,” Cruz Bernal said of the missing.

The groups’ report documents the expansion of two “parallel and overlapping” crises: more missing people and more unidentified bodies. The report documents two figures: 91,318 people missing haven’t been found (since 1964, when the records began) and more than 52,000 dead haven’t been identified, because of failures and delays in the Mexican forensic system.

The researchers warned that 52,000 is the minimum number of unidentified dead people recognized by state agencies; they estimated “that there are many more.” They also highlighted that 60 percent of remains are found in mass graves in public cemeteries, which have inadequate records and a “high probability of loss of bodies.”
'We live searching': Mexico families look for the missing, while 52,000 aren't identified

If you think someone has been left in the desert, contact Colibri Center immediately.
Then click here and here for more missing persons resources.
Missing persons resources - Missing from Mexico
ICMP - International Commission on Missing Persons

View Yellow Notices

The Baja California Human Rights Commission has received more than a dozen complaints so far this year from families who say state investigators have done very little to look for their missing loved ones. Now, citizens have created a website to help.

According to the state’s attorney general’s office, there are almost 13,000 people who have been reported missing since 2007.

The site is called Desaparecer en Baja California; translated, it means Missing in Baja California.

It also tracks clandestine pits where bodies have been found throughout the region.

“This phenomenon of secret grave sites is a black stain on Baja California,” said Renata Demichelis Ávila, founder of the missing persons’ website.

Demichelis added they will update statistics and information every three months.

“The main problem facing the families of missing people, who were taken by force, is there’s no follow through on the part of investigators and there’s no place to get information,” Demichelis said.

According to her, the website was created primarily as a database to help the families while updating information about people who have vanished, something that has increased in recent years, not only in Baja California, but across Mexico.
Citizens establish missing persons website in Tijuana

A human disaster of it's own. That's why this thread exists.....because it's a horrific problem....I tend to make a difference in my mind between persons who are supposed to got missing, found as an unidentified person in the US while crossing the border and those who have been taken by force in Mexico....It's very, very sad.....What a beautiful avatar BTW @imstilla.grandma
 
A human disaster of it's own. That's why this thread exists.....because it's a horrific problem....I tend to make a difference in my mind between persons who are supposed to got missing, found as an unidentified person in the US while crossing the border and those who have been taken by force in Mexico....It's very, very sad.....What a beautiful avatar BTW @imstilla.grandma
Enforced disappearances in Mexico, and especially during migration, is a real problem on its own.

Migration increases the risk of enforced disappearance. Source: OHCHR | Enforced disappearances in the context of migration: report

Not only we have to search in the missing files, but also, in the area of enforced disappearances.

The missing person file for a potential match can be filed in missing persons resources and enforced disappearances.

We can not write off enforced disappearances in such context. Transnational enforced disappearances is a new and increasingly worriesome trend.

The UID in the desert is a textbook case of transnational enforced disappearances.
The State may not necessarily order the disappearance, but it can acquiesce with it: corruption to police by drug cartels is very common.
If the State knows of an enforced disappearance but doesn't act to prevent it, they are responsible because they act by acquiescence.
[...]Involvement of government officials, at least by acquiescence; [...]
Source: OHCHR | About Enforced Disappearance

So, it doesn't matter if the UID is found in the US, missing persons files only is not enough. We have to also look at specialised NGOs for enforced disappearances.

Not only in Mexico, but also Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua and Venezuela.


Increasing rigid migratories policies explain the increasing risk of enforced disappearances for migrants.

In both cases BOH, you can not rule out an enforced disappearance.
 
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Enforced disappearances in Mexico, and especially during migration, is a real problem on its own.

Migration increases the risk of enforced disappearance. Source: OHCHR | Enforced disappearances in the context of migration: report

Not only we have to search in the missing files, but also, in the area of enforced disappearances.

The missing person file for a potential match can be filed in missing persons resources and enforced disappearances.

We can not write off enforced disappearances in such context. Transnational enforced disappearances is a new and increasingly worriesome trend.

The UID in the desert is a textbook case of transnational enforced disappearances.
The State may not necessarily order the disappearance, but it can acquiesce with it: corruption to police by drug cartels is very common.
If the State knows of an enforced disappearance but doesn't act to prevent it, they are responsible because they act by acquiescence.

Source: OHCHR | About Enforced Disappearance

So, it doesn't matter if the UID is found in the US, missing persons files only is not enough. We have to also look at specialised NGOs for enforced disappearances.

Not only in Mexico, but also Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua and Venezuela.


Increasing rigid migratories policies explain the increasing risk of enforced disappearances for migrants.

In both cases BOH, you can not rule out an enforced disappearance.

I understand and I agree. Basically we should not rule out either circumstance. But my brain can't handle, looking to identify an UID, taking every missing person into account that has been trafficked, "stolen" and taken over the border, enforced missing or a migrant. Not having a good, up to date database for all this countries, it's undo-able IMO and fruitless most of the time.
 
Well, it is clearly easier said than done.
But I think that we can start with what's available on the OHCHR, and going from there.

Even if we don't have photos there and some basic vital stats, we can then comb the cases. And we are sure that we can't confuse a MP and an enforced disappearance.

We have to divide the research in the group: one or 2 handle the enforced disappearances while X others handle missing persons, knowing that a same case can be listed as a MP and a disappeared at the same time. To add some issues, what is found in the file as a MP can be inconsistent with what's found in the file of enforced disappearance.
But they are not always so blatant inconsistencies you have to toss the towel!

Starting with the OHCHR info also allows to have the full names and surnames.
If you rely on MSMs, you have only one or two names with either one or two surnames. So, you can scour fruitlessly for hours because you have 250 homonyms with only the ID number as a way to differentiate.
Having all the names and surnames right off the bat is a huge time saver: BTDT with the disappeared in Argentina, Chili, Uruguay during the Condor Operation (1973-1990). I can't overstate the time I wasted to sort out homonyms because I have only the partial identity, aka the identity used in daily life by the person.
When we have all the names and surnames, you can save days of search wasted at sorting out homonyms: same name, same family name, same DOB and place of birth, same city but they are actually people who have nothing to do with the case.

I notice that English names and surnames are not as bound to get 250 homonyms with only the ID number to sort out whom is whom.
The US-Mexico border is very difficult mostly because of the homonyms pitfall.

In the OHCHR info, the full identity is given, so it narrows down the homonyms: you are left with 3-4 homonyms instead of 250 to sort out.
I can tell you that sorting out 3-4 homonyms takes a few hours to max 2 days, while sorting out 250 homonyms needs months.

So, instead of starting with MSM where you'll find only a partial identity, which means every search will bring you easily more than 100 homonyms to sort out, the OHCHR gives you the fundamental elements to start your research.

My advice: start with what you have on the OHCHR, so you have the full names.
With only partial name minus the ID number, you are bound to waste plenty of time!
 
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Arizona: Naming the dead from the desert

It's the job of a forensics team in Arizona to identify the bodies of migrants found in the desert. Anthropologist Robin Reineke describes how she pieces together the sad jigsaw puzzle of personal attributes and belongings.

Snipped content:

There's often an interesting combination of objects. Mostly it is the normal stuff that anyone would take with them on a trip - toothpaste, socks, snacks, water.

But then there are these very personal items - photographs of loved ones, handwritten notes from family members, kids' drawings.

The letters are from the children or wives of those we've found dead, wishing them luck and telling them that they're loved, that they should be very careful on the journey, that the family's prayers are with them, that the family's hopes are with them.

And the photos have been touched and pulled out over and over again, then folded up and put back carefully.

With certain objects, my familiarity with Mexican and Central American cultures helps me <Robin Reineke> to make a guess about where someone came from.

Money
Many migrants carry all the money they have. Before they meet up with their coyote (guide) they are often carrying the payment with them in cash, which is usually more than $2,500.

This is very dangerous. Every year, hundreds of Central American migrants fall prey to criminals, especially drug cartels and gangs.

False Mexican Voter ID card
When false Mexican ID is found with unidentified remains, Robin’s team look at their missing lists from neighbouring countries – in this case, the owner was Honduran.

He would have needed false ID to travel through Mexico, where he would also have been considered an “illegal”. Another reason for the fake ID is that if he had been caught trying to cross into the US, he would only have been deported back to Mexico rather than all the way to Honduras.

SIM cards
These are not uncommon. Migrants often carry them as back-up in case their cell phones get taken.

List of names and numbers
This is one of the most common items found with migrants. The guides often take their cell phones at the start of the journey, so the migrants carry numbers with them instead.

The numbers were key to helping the team identify this individual, who was found in January 2011, about 10-15 months after his death.

Someone from the Mexican consulate called one of the numbers and spoke to a person who knew a man using false ID. He was ultimately identified through a DNA match, thanks to the Argentine Forensic Team, which funds a large number of DNA comparisons for Central Americans.

Prayer card
“Cristo mi piloto” (Jesus is my pilot) with a prayer on the back. For example, many migrants carry prayer cards - small cards with a saint or a holy scene printed on them with an accompanying prayer. A prayer card of the Virgin of Juquila is likely to have belonged to a Oaxacan traveller, since it is there that she is venerated.

Wallet
Since all travellers carry wallets, and many of them are very similar, these rarely help in the identification process.

With certain objects, my familiarity with Mexican and Central American cultures helps me to make a guess about where someone came from.

You can think of it like a puzzle - a puzzle which has a great deal of importance to a lot of people.

Because of the highly decomposed nature of the bodies, the calls I <Robin Reineke> make are never as simple as, "I am sorry to inform you…" Instead, it's the beginning of a process that could take months. It unfolds as a kind of a negotiation between the scientists and the families. Both sides have the same goal - to find the missing person.

But for the scientists, the problem is an unidentified dead body, whereas for the families, the problem is a missing living person. These realities pull them in opposite directions.

And, coming after a long period of not hearing anything, these are months of agony for families. What they have already endured is terrifying. You cannot grieve without a body - without certainty that the person is gone. Every single day that you are living a normal life, you know they could be suffering.
 
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How many decades will it take to change this situation. It's heartbreaking on so many levels.
 
I don't know.

Because it needs to tackle more than one problem:
- Narcoterrorism
- Corrupt LE

Both are problems beyond websleuthers abilities.

However, the UID in the desert can be relayed to the EAAF office in New York.

I'll go beyond, I really think that the specific circumstances warrant to submit our PM to the EAAF rather than LE.

EAAF is much more equipped to liaise with country of origin and US LE. It'll speed up the definite ruling.

I really think that US LE is ill-equipped for liaising with Central and South American countries. So, submitting a PM to LE alone is not very helpful for relatives.

Submitting to EAAF is more efficient because they are much better equipped to liaise between US LE and Latam. EAAF is much more knowledgeable about the pitfall of working in countries where LE is badly corrupt, try to deflect attention by misuse and abuse of power for spying journalists, victims lawyers...
US LE can do a great job, but they are not well equipped to navigate with countries where narcoterrorists and LE corruption are both prevalent.

EAAF is much more experienced at dealing with it.

I know @Sillybilly and @CarlK90245 may not like the idea very much, but the US LE alone is not the best route for submitting PM in the circumstances of disappeared at the border.

If you want to submit to US LE, it's ok. But US LE alone is not equipped for making a match by themselves.


In these specific circumstances, you need to submit a PM to EAAF too. EAAF can contact US LE and are better equipped to help LE matching.

EAAF is used to the scarse data parsed everywhere and how Latam institutions work.
US LE? Not so much.

@Sillybilly for this specific area, EAAF is much better equipped and experienced. US LE alone won't cut for checking and ruling in or out.
US LE by themselves are not to be excluded! But EAAF can liaise with US LE and Latam countries LE, families... Starting with the language barrier: US LE will spend an inordinate amount of time on it, while EAAF is well versed in both languages.

US LE has its own limits, and can not make efficient matching by themselves.
With EAAF help, it will save a hefty amount of time.

EAAF NY office, from EAAF website:

New York Office
Brooklyn, Estados Unidos

578A Halsey Street,
Ground Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11233, U.S.

+1 (718) 2372028 (landline)

ny.office@eaaf.org

Link here, in Spanish because English version doesn't cut it: Nuestras sedes

And yes, the way contacts are written is messy, so I preferred making it more readable.

Later in the day, I'll contact the Whatsapp number left in EAAF news and ask if the EAAF in New York has a Whatsapp.
So, out of US sleuthers can submit a match and even talk to them without spending a kidney on phone costs.
Because long distance calls can be very expensive.

As mobile plans are very expensive and include Whatsapp for free in Latam countries, a Whatsapp number would be a better bet.
No added fees for phoning to EAAF with Whatsapp.
 
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I found this on a FB page.

Anyone who wants to submit a missing migrant can do so with the website below.
(The following website may be in Spanish and can be translated with google.)

Identificación de migrantes | EAAF

If you know of someone who has disappeared on their migration route from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and / or Nicaragua to Mexico or the United States, please fill out the fields of the form below. Also fill out the form if the person disappeared on their migration route from Mexico to the United States . Border Project staff will contact you to advise you on your case.

If you are in El Salvador , you can go directly to the Forensic Bank of your country by clicking here.

If you are in Honduras , you can go directly to the Forensic Bank of your country by clicking here.

If you cannot fill out the form or your query refers to other cases of disappeared persons who are not migrants, you can send an email to our work team in Mexico mex.oficina@eaaf.org and we will contact you.

You can also contact our New York Office: (+1 - 718) 237-2028 | ny.office@eaaf.org
 
Migrants & Suspected Migrants UIDs - خرائطي على Google
Added them except 1. The UID found at the labor camp, I did not add because of the brand of clothes she was wearing and them saying that her teeth were in perfect condition. Also, her doe network states that people actually do sex work in that area around the labor camps. So, based on that as well, I don't think she is a migrant and I'm guessing that she is from out of state or is a local sex worker.
Last, the UID found near the Taylor Farm/Nursery, I added him a long time ago.

Hi @ghostINshell. I'm still so amazed about the list you made. Are you still updating it now and then? Is there an easy way for Spanish speaking people to translate the texts in Spanish. You are an angel too.

I will consult a mod and ask if this list can be pinned on page #1 one and maybe another suitable place.
 

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