Mothers search for their missing children in the Sea of Cortez, which has become a clandestine grave.
In southern Sonora, specifically in the ports of Guaymas and Empalme, the Guerreras Buscadoras collective—made up of mothers, wives, daughters, and relatives of missing persons—has begun searching in the Sea of Cortez, with the support of Mexican Navy divers and underwater drones.
This sea, considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been identified as a site where criminal groups have dumped bodies in containers, some of them cemented or dismembered. Clues have come in through anonymous messages and even from the hitmen themselves.
Sinthya Gutiérrez Medina, the leader of the collective, has been searching for her missing son since 2017. Along with other mothers, she has taken to the sea in the hope of finding her loved ones. During the first underwater search, they found five bodies in containers, which have since been identified and returned to their families.
María del Rosario Gutiérrez Urías, another member, is also searching for her fisherman son, who disappeared in 2021. She says that, although her son loved the sea, she now hesitates to fulfill his last wish of scattering his ashes there, as her only wish is to be able to find him.
Since 2017, Guerreras Buscadoras has recovered more than 260 bodies from clandestine graves, ovens, and now also at sea. The crisis of disappearances in Mexico continues to escalate, with more than 106,000 people reported missing. The struggle of these mothers has become a cry for justice on one of the country’s most beautiful and painful coastlines.
