Weekend of the Missing: 5 Went Missing, 3 Found Dead With Sign Against CJNG in Colima

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat  

Cartel groups abducted five people in Colima city during one weekend, in two separate, highly-publicized cases. Three of the five were left on the roadside, executed, with a sign threatening anyone who supports the CJNG.

As covered by prominent Colima journalist Oscar Adrian, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) of Colima and the governor were perceived by some as mishandling a high-profile disappearance of two women.

At around noon on June 10, 2022, the emergency phone line received a call which reported that they had just witnessed two women being abducted while they were working inside a financial business in Plaza Kelly, which is located in the northern part of Colima city, in the state of the same name.

The two women were Katya Yuleni Rodríguez Mejía, 39 years old, and Leticia Josefina Saucedo Lara, 34 years old. A video alleged to show the abductor’s vehicle, a white sedan with no license plate, fleeing the area with the two women inside was posted online, seen below.

Frustrated by a perceived lack of response from law enforcement, the families of Katya and Leticia began protesting, demanding more information and more action from state authorities. Their protests began at first, outside of the FGE office and then later they blockaded the highway.

Video Source: Diario de Colima

Adding to the families' frustration, the state governor Indira Vizcaíno Silva was not in Colima at the time but was in Mexico City, speaking about public security.

As part of her comments, Indira said Colima’s government should aim to replicate Mexico City’s security strategy and model their law enforcement institutions after theirs in what some perceived to be a bit of political schmoozing during a joint press conference with the head of the Government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum.

The husband of one of the missing women told reporters during the blockade “What Indira should do is get to work instead of just walking around.”

Video Source: Diario de Colima via Oscar Adrian

Video Source: Oscar Adrian

Leticia Lara, mother of the missing Leticia Saucedo, was a part of the blockade and said "The governor does nothing! The governor just walks around. The governor doesn't do anything. For every case, she doesn't do anything! If the position is too big for her, why doesn't she resign? She should go. Let them put in another person who is actually useful, because this person is useless".

"Look at everything that is happening and she does absolutely nothing. All these hours that have passed since they abducted my daughter and they haven't given us any information about anything.” 

Video Source: AF Medios via Oscar Adrian

Leticia Lara publicly pleaded with those that might have abducted her daughter, “Give me back my daughter alive, please don't hurt her.”

Later, the families of the missing women were invited to speak with a representative of the governor, Secretary General of the Government, Guadalupe Solis who told them that investigation into the abduction was ongoing and they were asked to stop blockading the highway. The families refused and continued to protest throughout the night. It began to rain and friends of the families set up tents to help shelter them.

On June 11, the State Security Coordination Committee announced that law enforcement had launched an operation to rescue Katya and Leticia from captivity which did not locate them but a total of 17 armed men with suspected organized crime ties were arrested and 40 firearms were seized.

They gave very few details on what occurred during these operations and where they took place but they may have raided multiple cartel safehouses. 

The only description of the operation they gave was: “During the actions of the authorities on the occasion of the search for the missing women, they became aware of the presence of armed individuals in different buildings. Therefore, throughout the day yesterday and until early morning today, various operations  and actions were carried out with the following results: 17 people, charged with various federal and common law offenses, were arrested. The following was seized: 31 long-barrel firearms and 9 short-barrel firearms, 25 tactical vests, four communication radios, a communication signal inhibitor, seven grenades, dozens of magazines  and hundreds of miscellaneous bullets.”

“The event is still ongoing. Unfortunately the two women have not been located so far.”

The next day, on June 12, 2022, the governor announced that both women had been found alive by law enforcement and freed from captivity.  She stated that they had been safely reunited with their families. The governor thanked the "civilians who helped with their anonymous tips given in order to find them.”

On Friday, June 10, 2022, Petra Sánchez left her home in the Villa de Álvarez neighborhood of the city of Colima. She intended to go to the small town of Iglesia Santa Rita, which is just east of the port city of Manzanillo. 

Petra was 62 years old and worked as a real estate agent. According to her son Luis Velasco, a client of hers was interested in purchasing a piece of land near the town Iglesia Santa Rita, so Petra had made plans with Martín Ángel Corona, 58 years old, and Carlos Corona, 61 years old, to view their property.  

By the morning of Saturday, June 11, Petra’s family reported her as missing. Sometime after their report, it became clear that Martín and Carlos also couldn’t be found so they were reported missing as well.

Warning: Graphic photos begin below this point.

All of this was occurring during the same as the disappearance of Katya and Leticia, which increased the public pressure on the FGE to respond. 

The FGE very purposefully detailed the methods they were using to search for Petra, Martin and Carlos, saying “The Search for Persons Commission of the State of Colima, in coordination with the FGE through the Special Prosecutor's Office for Missing Persons, and with the support of the SSP, deployed an immediate search operation in the area where the last location of Petra S. was known, in Santa Rita in the municipality of Manzanillo.”

“These operations included searches of the area with an all-terrain vehicle as it is a very winding area; also a flyover with a drone to check the area from the air; all these actions were carried out in the company of the missing persons' relatives.” 

Unfortunately, Petra, Martin and Carlos may have never made it to Santa Rita, Manzanillo because during the night of Sunday, June 12, 2022, three bodies lying a few meters away from the gas station on a federal highway in the southern part of Colima city were found. All of the bodies showed evidence of gunshot wounds and a narco message sign accompanied their remains.

A series of photos which allegedly depicts the remains found along with the message sign was posted on twitter by Calvarie_Locus. The message reads as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido: 

This will be the fate of every turncoat that supports the Jaliscas. I told you all beforehand that I was already in Manzanillo. The purge has begun. This is just the beginning. You better get ready to get fucked or align with us.  

Sincerely, 

The One Whose Balls Hang Around His Knees

The bodies were taken to the morgue where they were later positively identified by their relatives as Petra, Martin and Carlos. 

Colima city is contested between CJNG and a splinter group formed by José Bernabé Brizuela Meraz, alias La Vaca, who declared war against the larger CJNG organization in February 2022.

Disappearance 1 Sources: Security Coordination Committee Announcement, Diario de Colima, Oscar Adrian, Proceso, Faro Informa, El Universal, Telediario

Disappearance 2 Sources: FGE Press Release, Diario de Colima, Oscar Adrian, Detail Zero, Jornada, Hoy Tamaulipas, Estación Pacifico