If your sister, wife, or mother vanished suddenly, you would expect the authorities to immediately launch an investigation into their disappearance with the hope they find them before it is too late. In Mexico, there are more than 73,000 missing people. The missing are known by most in Mexico as The Disappeared.
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Some believe that Mexican authorities are overwhelmed with the violence and war against drug gangs but, others say that the police do not care about the missing women. The families of the missing women plead to the police for help, but the resources are not always available. Many turn to social media to spread the word. Those with money or support from others purchase entire billboards in hopes someone knows something about their missing loved one.
In 2019 after the alleged rape of a woman by four Mexico City police officers, activists traveled to Mexico City to protest the rising violence against women and femicide. Then they went back in 2020, but this time the mothers of the victims and other protesters took over Mexico City Human Rights Commission and utilizes the building as a woman’s shelter. Mexico’s, Glitter Revolution is underway, and the women of Mexico City are refusing to be ignored.
While the citizens of Mexico City make drastic efforts to bring awareness to the femicide epidemic happening in their communities, others take matters into their own hands and look for men who commit these heinous crimes. Frida Guerrera, age fifty has made it her mission to track down these alleged murderers and helps bring them to justice. The fearless journalist puts their own life in jeopardy to bring awareness to missing person cases that may have otherwise gone completely unnoticed by the public. With the help of her tens of thousands of followers, she collects clues to piece together information about the alleged killers. The Prosecutor’s office for Mexico has worked with her on several cases.
Growing up in Ecatepec, Mexico, Guerra usually felt safe. Even though around her violence was increasing. In a span of just two years between 2015- 2017- 1258 women were murdered in Ecatepec. After graduating high school, she would attend university and study psychology. But again, despite the news of women being murdered in Juarez, she still felt safe as she never personally witnessed the violence herself. It wasn’t until 2006 when her boyfriend broke her nose after months of abuse, did she realize the reality for women experiencing violence. Guerrera has admitted that she never felt like a victim even though she was experiencing violent abuse.
She moved to Oaxaca, where she joined a liberal radio collective and began investigating abuse against women and corruption within the local government. Although she was working to protect women, she was putting herself in harm’s way at the same time. As a journalist who rallied to protect women and children, she received many threats against her life. She was beaten by an unknown attacker and survived. But the attempts to scare her were useless. Guerra cannot be stopped.
Guerrera continues to use her influence to track down alleged murderers and is still helping authorities bring them to justice. In a sad twist of fate, in 2019, just a few blocks aware from where she lived, the body of Jessica Carrillo was found along with two other women who were buried under the porch. Guerrera immediately went into action to help find the victim’s killer. Police pointed to the primary resident of the home, Oscar Garcia as the main suspect. Unbenounced to the ambitious journalist, this investigation would take her into the mind of a dark and dangerous person.
It all began when she posted to her Twitter feed asking her followers for clues about the alleged killer. She eventually discovered a Facebook account using a false name, but the profile picture was Oscar Garcia. To her horror, she found a post containing Jessica Carrillo along with the two other victim’s missing person notices. The caption read, “To catch a serial killer, you must think like one”. It was clear to Guerrera that Oscar Garcia had no remorse for the death of the three innocent women. The revelation was infuriating. She decided to make a post of her own. She posted a picture of Guzman with the caption, “Óscar García Guzmán is an idiot who thinks he’s so great. I’m waiting for you here,”. The post caught his attention.
Later, Garcia sent Guerrera a friend request on Facebook with the same profile with the fake name. He included a message that described the crime scene and gave the names of five people he claimed to have murdered. However, there was one name missing on that list, and for that – he had a reason, “I ran out of time and I couldn’t put down Jessica. How do I know this? I’m Óscar,” the message read, in all caps. “Do I have your attention now?” Guerrera had all the proof needed to know this was the real Oscar Garcia.
After giving the messages to the lead investigator for Jessica Carrillo’s case, they asked her to keep chatting with him. Guerrera continued to have conversations with the alleged murderer, often waking up to disturbing texts messages. Oddly enough, Garcia seemed to be most concerned for his pets that were left behind. He often threatened to cut off all contact unless he received photographic proof that his dog and cat were alive and well. But Guerrera knew coming up with proof was impossible. The dog was put down during the police search for Jessica. For three treacherous weeks, the journalist was a prisoner to the alleged serial killer. She was forced to put up with his disturbing taunts, and his unrealistic take on life. Garcia began to become increasingly violent with his words and eventually became enraged that he still hasn’t seen his cat. He threatened to kill one more woman if he didn’t get a video of his cat. She complied with his demand.
Finally, in December 2019 Garcia was found by authorities while he was enjoying a sandwich outside of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. In a sad attempt to thwart his arrest, he threatened police with supposed poison candy but was quickly apprehended and taken into custody. But Guerra’s work was still not done and with one down, there were hundreds more to go.
Frida Guerrera continues to investigate cases of missing or murdered women, often without the help of authorities and at times – without the help of her community. According to the NGO Mexicans Against Corruption, 15,000 violent deaths of women occurred between 2012 and 2018, and only 3,056 were investigated as femicide cases. Despite identifying an additional 2,700 cases that fit the criteria. And out of those, only 739 men were ultimately sentenced. So even though the numbers are stacked against Guerrera, her mission is clear: Catch the Killers.