Mexico's Search for 'Disappeared' Finds Thousands Alive, Reveals Poor Record-Keeping

Critics claim government's effort minimizes the humanitarian crisis, while experts warn actual number of missing may be undercounted due to cartel influence.

• Mexico's government initiative to find people falsely listed as missing has located 16,681 individuals who had returned home but not notified the authorities.
• An additional 17,843 people who appeared to have used a credit card, received a vaccine, or applied for government benefits while listed as missing could not be located.
• Interior Secretary Luisa Maria Alcalde revealed that poor record-keeping meant that in 62,112 cases, or about 68% of reports, there wasn’t enough contact information to even start a search.
• The government's effort has been criticized as an attempt to minimize the problem of the country's 'disappeared' people, a number that has risen sharply under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration.
• Despite the government's findings, experts suggest that the number of missing people in Mexico may be undercounted due to the danger of reporting such cases in cartel-dominated regions.

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