‘We will not rest until we find them’: Nogales residents march hoping to find missing loved ones

Versión en español

Nogales, Sonora – Two groups marched last Saturday in Nogales, Sonora, to commemorate the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Mothers, fathers, children and siblings marched together with a common demand: justice for their missing loved ones.

The march was led by the Madres Buscadoras de Nogales and the Buscadoras de la Frontera Nogales groups, who, although organized as separate marches, shared the same route. Both collectives dedicate their time to pressuring the government to investigate missing persons cases and to conducting digs in remote areas of the Sonoran Desert in search of missing loved ones who may have been burried in unmarked graves.

From Obregón Avenue and Pierson Street to Luis Donaldo Colosio Plaza, some 60 people marched with flowers, white balloons and signs of hope.

“Son, listen, your mother continues to fight!,” “Why are we searching for them?! Because we love them!” and “We will not rest until we find them!” were some of the chants heard along the way. Participants carried pictures of their missing relatives.

Carlos Arenas, leader of the border collective, said that they have a record of approximately 600 missing persons from 2020 to date, and of those, he estimates that around 200 have been found.

According to figures from the International Commission on Missing Persons, as of July 2023, 110,000 cases of missing persons had been reported in Mexico since the 1960s. According to the commission, "In the National Registry, more than 87% of active cases are considered forced disappearances or those committed by private individuals," and because not all cases are reported, this figure is likely much higher.

Red Lupa, a digital space of the Mexican Institute of Human Rights and Democracy, which tracks cases of disappearances, released its National Report on Disappearances 2025, detailing that as of May 2025, there were nearly 5,100 missing persons in the state of Sonora. From Jan. 1 to May 16, 331 cases of disappearances had been reported in the state.

For years, marches demanding justice for missing loved ones are held throughout the state. But the disappearance of people is not limited to residents of Nogales, Sonora. The Madres Buscadoras collective has registered at least three cases of people from the United States who went missing in Nogales.

Elentina Parra was one of the protesters with the Searching Mothers of Nogales collective. She is searching for her son, José Alberto Solis Parra, 34, who disappeared on Sept. 16, 2022.

“He slept with me in my bed, said goodbye in the morning to go to work, and by midday, he hadn't answered me. The only thing I can ask is that they tell me where he is, that they touch each other's hearts because they are parents, children, siblings. I ask God to allow me to find him in whatever situation, to have a place to mourn him, to lay a flower,” Elentina said.

Celina Martínez was also at the march; she has been searching for her husband, Ángel Sánchez Domínguez, 20, and his brother, Yahir Sánchez Domínguez, 23. They disappeared on September 16, 2024, when they traveled from Nogales to Sásabe, and disappeared on the way back. They went to work selling car accessories while traveling in a white Ford Explorer.

Searching for loved ones becomes routine

The Madres Buscadoras collective began the day with a morning search and found a skeleton on a property in the Bellavista neighborhood. Then, at 4 p.m., they began their march along Obregón and Pierson streets until they reached the Plaza of the Juárez Monument.

Guadalupe Ayala, the leader of the Madres Buscadoras collective, noted that they have a WhatsApp group with about 200 people; however, when they go out to search, few attend. Not everyone participates in the field searches.

The Buscadoras de la Frontera Nogales collective attended a 4 p.m. mass at the Purísima Concepción Parish. There, amid prayers and silence, the priest reminded those present that "no one is lost to God." They also conducted a roll call of the missing.

José Luis Soto, a retired man, has been searching for his grandson since 2018. Alfonso David López was 28 when he went missing.

“In 2021, we found his truck, and approximately one kilometer from the car, we found three skeletons. We are almost certain that one of them is my grandson, given that he had braces, and one of the skeletons had braces. However, to this day, the DNA results for those bones are still missing. My daughter went to the prosecutor's office, and they told her the results weren't available,” Soto said.

His grandson owned a barbershop and offered home delivery services. He received a call to provide a service to a home. He left and was never heard from again, he said.

After mass, they walked along Obregón Avenue until reaching Luis Donaldo Colosio Plaza, where they held a roll call of the missing and released white balloons that floated up into the sky in their honor.

César Barrón is an independent reporter covering the transnational communities of Ambos Nogales. He has over 20 years of experience covering the Sonoran communities.