National Search Commission reported that half of the missing persons in Mexico are from Nuevo León

Gender-based violence in the country has meant that thousands of women are unable to return home to be next to their families. In this context, the National Search Commission revealed that in Mexico there are 20,148 missing or unlocated women, most of them between the ages of 15 and 19.

Of those 20,148 missing persons, half come from the state of Nuevo León, which is led by Emecist Samuel García, an entity that has been under the eye of the hurricane due to the recent shock of the country with two specific cases, that of Debanhi Escobar and María Fernanda Contreras.

“Mexico is a country where we have, in fact, almost 100,000 missing persons. The fifth part are women and I think it is important to remember that many of those who are reported missing are later victims of femicide,” warned Amnesty International Mexico's director, Edith Olivares Ferreto.

“What 20 years ago we thought was an isolated situation in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, has become a situation that is currently in all states. Mexico has become a complete Ciudad Juarez,” he added.

Olivares Ferreto said that Mexican families “live with a fear that anything will happen to women.”

“You can't take a taxi, you can't take public transport and we're really in a very serious situation,” he said.

In addition, Edith Olivares warned that, in Mexico, the women who are most at risk are young women and pointed out that as a result of the high numbers of missing persons who have reported, the exercise of expressing their freedom is violated.

The Commission noted that during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), 7,901 disappearances have been recorded. In 2018, there were 1,687 unlocated women; in 2019, 1,890; in 2020, 2,250; and in 2021, 2,795 such disappearances, that is, an increase of 65 per cent compared to the year of arrival of Tabasqueño in the National Palace.

According to the National Registry of Missing or Unlocated Persons, consulted this Sunday, April 24, 99,284 Mexicans are counted, being led by Jalisco with 14 e 938, is followed by Tamaulipas with 11,924, then the State of Mexico with 10,821 and then Nuevo León with 6,180.

So far in 2022, according to the Registry, there are 1,668 women and 2,594 men missing throughout Mexico.

Debanhi Escobar was an 18-year-old girl who disappeared in Nuevo León after attending a party with friends on April 9. Thirteen days after this incident, his body was found in the cistern of a motel near the location where he was last seen, according to expert records.

The Attorney General's Office of the State of Nuevo León pointed out that Debanhi died of a “deep contusion of the skull”, however, the version emerged that the girl would have fallen into the cistern by accident, however the young woman's family dismissed what was said and considered it “impossible and implausible” that she had tried to climb the fence.

Maria Fernanda Contreras died after she met with a group of friends in Zona Tec on April 3. After this event, the young woman disappeared after going to the municipality of Apodaca accompanied by a man, whose whereabouts are still unknown. It was until April 9 that the regiomontana authorities found his body.

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