Groups conduct the first day of searches in Barranca de Tarango, in the Álvaro Obregón borough. Photo: Ivonne Rodríguez, El Sol de México
Four years after human remains were found in the Tarango Ravine, in the Álvaro Obregón borough, mothers’ collectives were able to gain access to search in this area of Mexico City.
The search, which began on Monday and ends today, was requested by a searching mother. Later, the collectives Hasta Encuentrales (Until We Find Them), Una Luz en el Camino (A Light on the Path), and Mariposas Buscando Corazones y Justicia (Butterflies Searching for Hearts and Justice) joined.
The ravine, located in the Lomas de Axotitla neighborhood, known as El Queso (The Cheese), is considered a hotspot and area of interest for collectives after authorities located skeletal remains in 2021 and 2022.
It is also considered a hotspot due to the number of people who have disappeared in the area, which increased from 22 cases in 2019 to 90 last year, according to the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons.
A context analysis is required to schedule a search with authorities. Helena Jiménez, a member of Hasta Encuentrales, explained that this includes the number of cases, number of investigation files, level of insecurity, and formal and anonymous complaints.
As reported by La Prensa, the Secretariat of Citizen Security has identified the operations of a gang dedicated to the crimes of kidnapping, extortion, bribery, drug dealing and distribution, extortion, homicide, and illegal deprivation of liberty in this municipality.
Jiménez emphasized that once the local search commission conducts the study and analysis of the context, authorities delimit the polygons and map out a route where the search will be conducted.
“This area in Álvaro Obregón was considered an area of interest because it has always been a clandestine dumping ground, and there have also been anonymous, unofficial reports from neighbors who have warned that skeletal remains could be found here.
“Many factors influence this, for example, the need for tools, the weather, and logistics, because this area is a ravine filled with trash and bags of rubble. If it rains, it would be dangerous. That’s why the area must be thoroughly studied to determine what will be needed,” he added.
According to the searching families, there are more than 33 investigation files related to missing persons in the area, so this first search in the Tarango Ravine is very important to them.
Unlike the searches that have taken place in Ajusco, in the Tlalpan borough, this search was carried out under the absolute discretion of those participating, and most families requested that their identities be withheld because it is an area where organized crime is concentrated.
Other families accompany them and protect them so they don’t expose themselves to further risks, as they have already noticed the presence of unknown individuals monitoring the search efforts.
Among the missing persons search records in the municipality are those of Sergio Gerardo Jiménez Guerrero, who disappeared on October 20th, 2023, in Las Águilas, and that of Diego Iván Arreola Perez, who disappeared on May 21st, 2023, in Ampliación Las Águilas.
Also included is Juan José Mendez Sánchez, who disappeared last year in Molino de Rosas. “They took him on February 17th, 2024, between 11:30 and 12 p.m., on Alta Tensión Avenue, in the Minas de Cristo neighborhood. Since then, we haven’t heard from him,” said one of his relatives.
At least five families who reported their children missing very close to the ravine attended this event. They searched among the garbage, rubble, and weeds, hoping to find out. To locate them, they worked together with the authorities to descend more than 20 meters to reach the sewage system, removing plants, trash, and rocks with picks, shovels, and rakes.
So far, they have only found clothing, which the mothers have inspected in detail in the hope of identifying some of the disappeared, as well as remains of wildlife.
Original article by Gloria Lopez, El Sol de México, May 22nd, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.