A drama that seems taken from a series, but is painfully real
FRESNILLO, Zac. – Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three hundred and thirty-six hours of uncertainty, because that’s how hell is measured when someone disappears without a trace. Juan Carlos Gaytán Requenes, the former director of the Youth Institute of Fresnillo (yes, that position that sounds important but pays like an intern), vanished as if someone had pressed the “delete” button in his life. And his family, understandably, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Manuel, his brother, has become a kind of tragic soap opera hero: he posts wanted posters as if they were viral memes, organizes caravans with other families who are also looking for their loved ones (because, spoiler alert: this happens more than we think), and he even set up an altar in the tortilla factory where Juan Carlos worked. In case prayers help. Spoiler again: not until now.
“We are a good family”: the mantra that does not stop despair
Manuel insists that they are a working family, without enemies, without shady debts, without dramas worthy of Netflix. “My brother is a healthy, studious guy, without vices…” he repeats, as if he had to justify that someone like that deserves to be found. Because, apparently, in this country you have to clarify that you were not a drug trafficker or an influencer for your case to matter.
Juan Carlos was 24 years old, had a one-year-old daughter and a work schedule that would make anyone cry: from 7 to 11 AM and from 4 to 8 PM. On July 15, he left the tortilla shop (yes, the former youth director was now kneading dough, because life is ironic) at 11:40 AM, but he never got to have breakfast with his family. His wife raised the alarm at 1 PM, when WhatsApp was still “online” but reality was offline.
The last thing that was known: at 11:45 AM, Juan Carlos withdrew 800 pesos from an ATM. Eight hundred pesos. Not even for a refurbished iPhone. Since then, silence. No trace of his motorcycle, no encrypted messages, no ransom demands. Nothing. As if he had been swallowed by the black hole of disappearances in Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office and the Local Search Commission are carrying out operations in the area. Three so far. Because, of course, looking for someone in a country where corruption and impunity are trending topics is like playing hide and seek in the dark. Blindfold. And his hands were tied.
The family continues praying, putting up signs and waiting. Because what else is left when the system fails and the news goes out of style?
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#HastaEncontralos #Fresnillo #Justicia
