**Primary Article: Activists Call for Walls to Display Photos of the Missing in Baja California**
In Baja California, groups dedicated to searching for missing persons have formally requested that the state government establish a wall in each municipality to display photographs of missing individuals. The first of these proposed walls is hoped to be placed in Tijuana, allowing families to honor and keep the memory of their loved ones alive.
Paula Sandoval, president of the association “Families United in Search of Our Missing in Baja California,” alongside other activists, highlighted the necessity of these walls. “We want a place to show the faces of our missing and make visible the absence that we feel at home,” Sandoval asserted. The intention is for the walls to be placed in central and easily accessible locations, such as Boulevard Insurgentes, Zona Río, or Zona Centro, ensuring that families can easily visit and place photos of their missing relatives.
This request was made public outside the State Search Commission in Tijuana, located at the Third Stage of the Río, where search groups intended to place pictures inside the building. However, they were denied access, leading Fernando Ocegueda Flores, president of “United for the Missing of Baja California,” to place the images outside the facility instead.
Sandoval emphasized that this temporary setup serves as a protest against the perceived lack of action in addressing disappearances, calling it a demonstration against the invisibility of their missing loved ones.
Furthermore, these collectives are also demanding a meeting with the Baja California Governor, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, to discuss unresolved matters within the State Search Commission.
**Secondary Article: Rise in Search Collectives Reflects Escalating Number of Disappearances in Baja California**
Recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of groups dedicated to finding missing persons in Baja California, mirroring the alarming rise in disappearances across the region. Current estimates from these collectives suggest that there are around 30,000 individuals unaccounted for within the region.
Search efforts are often complicated due to resource limitations and bureaucratic hurdles, prompting calls for more effective government intervention. These growing numbers have fueled the urgency for establishing municipal search cells specifically tasked with finding missing individuals and improving current search methodologies.
The region’s community leaders, along with these dedicated groups, continue to advocate for better infrastructure and resources to address this critical issue, underscoring the need for statewide collaborative efforts to locate and reunite missing persons with their families.