This is the story of a mother whose daughter went missing in Juarez – and how she turned herself into a detective to track down her killer. This led her into the heart of how the Mexican state has been hijacked – and exposed the nature of the drug war.
The words I quote from this woman, Marisela Escobedo, are either from media reports – all of which are indicated in the end-notes – or as recalled by her sons, Juan and Paul, and her best friend, Bertha Alicia Garcia, whose clips you can hear now.
This is Juan Fraire Escobedo recalling his mother’s words when she couldn’t find her daughter Rubi when she was a little girl:
This is Juan recalling his sister’s words when she was found after being lost as a little girl:
This is Juan recalling what his sister’s killer said when he asked Marisela for work:
This is Juan recalling what an informant, Angel, told Marisela:
This is Juan recalling Marisela’s challenge to the police:
This is Juan recalling rummaging through the rubbish dump for fragments of his sister’s body:
This is Juan recalling his mother’s betrayal:
This is him elaborating:
This is Juan recalling what people would shout on the streets:
This is Bertha Alicia Garcia, explaining why Marisela risked her life to find her daughter’s killer (for me, this was one of the most moving things anyone said to me in the three years I spent writing this book):
This is Juan explaining how the police admitted to working with the Zetas:
This is Juan explaining who the real victims in the drug war are:
This is Juan explaining how the cartels have only become stronger as the drug war intensified:
This is Juan explaining how the drug war strengthens the cartels:
This is Paul Fraire Escobedo, Marisela’s other son, explaining why he can’t go home:
This is Sandra Rodriguez, the amazingly brave crime reporter for El Diario in Juarez, explaining the real reason for the Mexican drug war: