The Mexican Mothers Who Make A Grim Yearly Search For Missing Loved Ones
"They have the right to be searched for, and we have the right to search for them," says the mother of a man who has been missing since 2013. Relatives say the government does little to help.
Editor's note: This story includes graphic descriptions of the search for human remains.
Manky Lugo has developed a gruesome expertise. Like a human bloodhound, she sniffs out traces of death.
Her gray hair wrapped in a bright-green bandanna, the 64-year-old applies her skill during an annual search for remains of fellow citizens who have vanished without a trace — victims of Mexico's drug wars and armed groups. A loved one of her own is among the missing.
"I'm looking for my son Juan Francisco, who disappeared on June 19, 2015," she says. "Three days after he went missing, I started searching for him and haven't stopped since."
Lugo is one of hundreds of Mexican citizens from across the country
