The murder of María del Carmen Morales, a missing persons activist, and her 26-year-old son, Jaime Daniel Rodríguez Morales, has sparked outrage across Mexico. Both were shot late Wednesday night in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, near Guadalajara, according to the Jalisco State Attorney General’s Office (FEJ).
Morales was a member of the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, a search collective that last month uncovered bone fragments and personal belongings linked to missing people at Izaguirre Ranch, a site later identified by authorities as a cartel training and extermination camp. The group has been vocal about its demands for justice, especially following the earlier killing of another member, Teresa González, earlier this month.
The attack occurred when two men on motorbikes opened fire around 11:30 p.m. Officials claim the primary target was Rodríguez, with Morales fatally wounded as she tried to defend him. However, members of Guerreros Buscadores have questioned authorities’ quick dismissal of any link between the murders and Morales’ activism, arguing that thorough investigations have not been conducted.
Morales had received threats in the past for her efforts to find her missing son, Ernesto Julián Rodríguez Morales, who disappeared in February 2024. “Unfortunately, she had already been threatened several times,” said Raúl Servín, another member of the collective. “All we want is to find our loved ones.”
The Guerreros Buscadores gained national attention after their discoveries at Izaguirre Ranch, where they found skeletal remains, burnt belongings, and a list of missing persons. Their work highlights the deep mistrust many families have toward authorities in Jalisco, a state plagued by violence linked to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Across Mexico, over 124,000 people remain missing, most without answers.