Disappearances in Edomex: 15 People Disappear Daily

An Unstoppable Problem: More than 5,000 Disappearances in One Year

The State of Mexico faces one of the most severe disappearance crises in the country's recent history, with more than 5,000 cases recorded in 2023 alone, which equates to an average of 15 people disappearing every day.

The problem has been increasing over the last decade, with an exponential growth in reports. Since 2015, more than 40,000 disappearances have been recorded in the state, most of which remain unsolved.

Despite the magnitude of the problem, state authorities have shown complete indifference, leaving the victims' families abandoned and with a slow, bureaucratic, and inefficient judicial system.

Search collectives and human rights organizations have denounced that the state government limits itself to issuing alerts without concrete actions, while impunity allows those responsible to continue operating without consequences.

Causes of the Disappearances

The disappearances in the State of Mexico are not due to a single phenomenon but are related to multiple factors, including:

• Human trafficking and sexual exploitation
• Drug trafficking and cartel violence
• Kidnappings for extortion purposes
• Security forces linked to forced disappearances
• Corruption and collusion between authorities and organized crime

Municipalities with the Highest Incidence

While disappearances occur throughout the state, some municipalities have become true hotspots, where cases have increased exponentially in recent years.

The most affected areas are:

• Nezahualcóyotl
• Metepec
• Ecatepec
• Chimalhuacán
• Toluca

Nezahualcóyotl and Ecatepec top the list with the highest number of disappearances, being the most dangerous municipalities for women and young people.

Abandonment and Struggle of the Relatives

The indifference of the state government has led the relatives themselves to have to go out and search for their missing loved ones, often risking their lives in the search for clandestine graves or facing criminals without any protection.

"They've left us alone. They don't investigate, they don't search, they don't help us. If it weren't for the collectives, we wouldn't know where our missing are", denounced a mother belonging to the collective Hasta Encontrarte.

The search groups have discovered human remains in various parts of the state without the state government implementing effective measures to stop the violence or curb the disappearance of people.

Clandestine Graves

In the last five years, more than 300clandestine graves have been found in the State of Mexico, some with dozens of charred or mutilated bodies, which shows the brutality with which criminal groups operate.

"They've forced us to learn to dig, to detect smells, and to differentiate human bones from animal bones", declared a searching mother in a recent interview.

Many of these graves are discovered thanks to the efforts of the search collectives themselves, as the authorities rarely participate actively in locating the missing.