While searching for her missing brother, Angelita Almeras assisted in locating the remains of hundreds of missing Mexicans — a search that abruptly ended when she was tragically killed by a gunman. In Mexico, attempting to find one of the over 100,000 missing individuals can be extremely dangerous. Almeras, a 27-year-old single mother of two, had asked the government for protection a week ago due to escalating threats but did not receive any help. Tragically, she was fatally shot at the beauty salon where she worked in Tecate, a city near the US state of California. According to activists, she is one of eight people who have been killed while searching for missing persons in Mexico since 2021. Her untimely death has left her family and friends devastated, leading to renewed calls for justice and security for those involved in similar searches.
Almeras’s brother Jose went missing in 2018 along with his girlfriend during a period of heightened violence in Tecate linked to drug trafficking. In their quest to find him, Almeras and her mother established a group called “Union and Strength for Our Disappeared.” Paula Sandoval, a friend of Almeras who is also searching for her kidnapped brother, expressed her grief over the tragic loss, emphasizing that neither Almeras nor her family deserved such a fate. Sandoval remembered Almeras as a compassionate and dedicated individual who consistently supported victims and was always ready to help others in need.
Almeras, who was initially identified by a local human rights commission as Angelica Leon based on her second surname following her death, filed three complaints about the threats she received, according to her friend. The threats, which came from unidentified telephone numbers and social media accounts, were not investigated by the authorities. Almeras had become a “prominent figure” in advocating for the missing and their families, which made her vulnerable in a region and a country plagued by violence, according to the rights group Elementa Derechos Humanos.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stated that Almeras had been under the protection of local authorities and that the alleged perpetrator had been identified. However, this claim was met with skepticism by those close to Almeras, who believe that her murder is related to her search work. Despite the risks involved in searching for the missing, Sandoval expressed her determination to continue, even though it may make some individuals, including authorities, uncomfortable. Almeras’s family is now coping with the immense loss of two loved ones, as they continue to search for her missing brother.
