Mario Vergara Hernandez poses for a photo in his community Huitzuco, Guerrero, Mexico, February 5, 2016. Mario's brother Tomas Vergara Hernandez was kidnapped in Huitzuco July 5, 2012 and was 38 years old at the time. ÒThe last time I saw my brother my grandmother was in the hospital, my brother came to see her and he left at 10 am, from there we don't know anything,Ó said Mario. They received a call asking for a ransom, if they ever wanted to see Tomas again. When the family asked for proof of life, the conversation ended. ÒI have a lot of fear, that they are going to take a member of my
Mario Vergara Hernandez poses for a photo in his community Huitzuco, Guerrero, Mexico, February 5, 2016. Mario's brother Tomas Vergara Hernandez was kidnapped in Huitzuco July 5, 2012 and was 38 years old at the time. ÒThe last time I saw my brother my grandmother was in the hospital, my brother came to see her and he left at 10 am, from there we don't know anything,Ó said Mario. They received a call asking for a ransom, if they ever wanted to see Tomas again. When the family asked for proof of life, the conversation ended. ÒI have a lot of fear, that they are going to take a member of my family another time. We have a lot of pain, but my mother has ten times as much pain for what happened to her son,Ó said Mario. "My brother might be dead, but my mother sees him everyday. We call them Òthe living dead.Ó Mario has become the leader of an informal search group made up of family members of missing people. The group goes out every Sunday in search of clandestine graves in the mountains around Iguala. The previous leader of the group, Miguel çngel JimŽnez Blanco, was recently murdered. ÒAll of this really changed our lives, from that day you live different,Ó said Mario, who regularly receives threatening text messages and phone calls saying not to search anymore, if you don't want to loose another member of your family. Huitzuco is near Iguala, where 43 students from the Ayotzinapa school went missing, in the fall of 2014. The attention of the search for the students uncovered many other clandestine graves around Iguala, where a turf battle is happening between rival criminal groups.
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: Mexico
Photo credit: © Brett Gundlock / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 43, atyotzinapa, ayotzinapa, cartel, city, clandestine, corruption, disappeared, drug, drugwar, executed, family, federal, gangs, grave, graves, gravesite, guerrero, huitzuco, iguala, justice, kidnapping, mass, mexico, missing, murder, normalistas, outrage, people, police, ransom, remains, search, students, violence, war
