‘It’s very painful because I don’t know if my son is there’: Terror at the Teuchitlán extermination center

‘It’s very painful because I don’t know if my son is there’: Terror at the Teuchitlán extermination center

“Hello, good morning, my brother is missing. I saw a backpack like the one he was wearing the day he disappeared.” “Gray sweatshirt with the word “ocean” written on it. It’s my son. He went missing in Veracruz.” “Is there an orthopedic boot among those things, a women’s size 5?” “Can you help me? My missing relative was wearing this keychain.” “Does anyone see if there are any girl’s school shoes? My daughter disappeared five years ago.” Pain runs through these and other Facebook comments that have turned into a plea, a shared tragedy. The Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective has been publishing images and videos for a week of the 493 objects they found at the Izaguirre ranch in Teuchitlán, in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Since then, hundreds of people have searched the images for clues. Teuchitlán was a recruitment and extermination center for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), where testimonies received by the searchers indicate rape, torture and mass murder. Yet, in this country that bears the pain of 124,000 missing persons, a mother sees the photos and writes: “I wish my son were there. He disappeared 14 years ago.”

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