Six years ago, a mother named Guadalupe Ayala was left distraught after her son aged 25, Alfredo Campos, was taken from his home in Tlajomulco. His disappearance added another name to the list of more than 15,000 people recorded as missing in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. In the state capital, Guadalajara, a key intersection plastered with posters of missing people has been dubbed the “circle of the missing”.
There are more than 100,000 missing people in Mexico – one of the tragic consequences of the nation’s deadly drug crisis, with the majority of those missing thought to have been taken by organised crime groups and drug cartels. The total is likely greater as numerous individuals are never officially reported due to concerns about retaliation.
Among the aspects that made me cry most was reading that he had been left out in the open, particularly to cold conditions
Discovering the fate of missing loved ones can be fraught with danger, with family members intimidated or murdered for attempting to locate their relatives. They can also find themselves relying on contact with organised crime groups for tip-offs about locations where opposing factions have buried bodies.
In an effort to speed up the investigations and minimize the dangers for mothers such as Ayala, local volunteer groups and state authorities have initiated a new project to assist in finding grave locations, including using pigs to simulate how plant life develops on interment spots.
Scores of pig carcasses are being buried across sixteen separate areas on the grounds of the University of Guadalajara – each simulating a distinct scenario in which a human remains might have been buried, such as covered in fabric, cut into pieces, cremated or buried with stones above them. Two plots have been left empty for reference purposes.
Pigs are used due to their biological resemblance to people in terms of anatomy, genetic makeup and physiology. Scientists have observed variations in development of vegetation across the grave sites, with vegetation appearing straight away above the pigs wrapped in blankets.
“Even though the ground might be dry, the blanket retains water,” says a researcher named Tunarui Chávez Gonzalez, from the Jalisco Search Agency, a government body that organises local searches with relatives and is running the Found project with collectives of mothers and academic institutions worldwide.
At additional research locations, the scientists have discovered depressed soil functions as a barrier, trapping additional moisture and leading to more growth, with the researcher noting they had recorded 15 different plants that correspond to the presence of bodies.
As well as the pig burial sites, the commission is experimenting with geophysical technology such as electrical resistivity tomography, which can create images of the underground earth by measuring variations in voltage, and multispectral cameras on drones, which can identify compounds in the soil that frequently signal the existence of decaying bodies, such as nitrogen and potassium.
Last year, during a search of an abandoned house in the city of Zapopan, where criminal elements had been known to sell drugs, a mothers’ collective had found approximately four sacks with human parts. The use of an electrical resistance device enabled the Jalisco Search Commission to locate twenty-nine additional sacks and three full bodies within a few hours.
Some mothers’ search groups have discovered that the criminal groups frequently excavate burial sites near certain types of trees: sweet acacia trees and mesquite trees. These plants are preferred because they provide shade while excavating pits but their main roots grow straight down, preventing large root systems that might obstruct the excavation.
Through the use of artificial intelligence and aerial surveys, scientists currently think they can use such insights to assist in ranking investigation zones and speed up the likely finding of secret burial sites.
For Ayala, the search for her missing son was brought to a quick but tragic conclusion, aided by the Fundej organization, a team of community parents and helpers looking for disappeared youth.
They found four limbs, with scientific analysis confirming one was from her child, followed by more body parts over the following months.
“Upon locating the individual and find them segmented like that, that’s the worst nightmare. You get into your head many things,” says the mother. “You wonder how he was tortured, how was his death?”
The subsequent coroner’s report was a distressing perusal. “I never stopped crying when reading it,” she said.
“One of the things that brought the most tears was when it stated he was left unprotected to the elements, particularly to low temperatures, because it showed on the internal organs. Prior to his death, he was very cold.”
While welcoming the new innovations speeding up the search for the disappeared, a state commissioner, accepts that it does not solve Mexico’s drug crisis.
“Despite having numerous investigators, it’s continuing to increase if we don’t prevent [deaths from happening]. But for now,” he says, “we hope to develop the knowledge to find those who do disappear as quickly as we can.”
