We Are Sabuesos Guerreras: Searching for Life, Fighting for Truth

Who are we?

We are Sabuesos Guerreras A.C., a collective of mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters searching for our missing loved ones in the state of Sinaloa. We founded this group in 2017, driven by pain and the need to uncover the truth with our own hands.

We started as eight women, and today we are more than 130. Each of us carries a story of interrupted love, of an absence that hurts—but also a fierce will to never give up.

Why did we form?

We were born from institutional abandonment. Authorities weren’t searching for our children or loved ones. So we decided to organize ourselves. We named ourselves Sabuesos Guerreras (Warrior Bloodhounds) because like bloodhounds, we sniff out clues, dig into the ground, and track life. Like fierce dogs, we protect what we gave birth to. And so, with shovels, picks, and full hearts, we began to search.

August 30, 2017—International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances—was the moment we said “enough.” We officially registered as a civil association to demand justice in an organized way.

What do we do?

We do what the government should be doing: search for the missing, alive or dead.

  • We enter clandestine graves.
  • We visit hospitals, prisons, psychiatric wards, and rehab centers.
  • We search in the mountains, in the city, under the sun and rain.
  • We accompany other families with legal procedures, emotional support, and mourning.
  • We’ve found skeletal remains, charred bodies, bone fragments—remains that were ignored or abandoned by authorities.

To date, we’ve recovered more than 18 full bodies and thousands of bone fragments. Every discovery, every piece, is hope for a mother who hasn’t slept in peace.

How do we organize?

We wake up early. We gear up with simple tools: gloves, machetes, water, and radios. We watch over each other. When one of us breaks down, another holds her. When one of us finds a bone, we all cry with her.

We are not forensic experts, but we’ve learned. We know when the earth has been disturbed. We know what certain smells mean. We read the land like a map.

What do we demand?

We demand respect. We demand truth. We demand justice.

We also demand that the memorials and monuments we’ve built in honor of the missing not be removed, erased, or forgotten. We placed them in Culiacán’s Parque Constitución, at the Cathedral, and other places because we deserve dignified remembrance. Recently, we presented a proposal to the Sinaloa Congress asking for these memorial spaces to be legally protected.

What do we feel?

Yes, we feel fear. But we feel love even more. Love for those we’re missing. That’s why we continue.

Many of us have been threatened. We are watched. But we won’t stay silent. Because if we don’t search, no one will.

What network are we part of?

We are part of the Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico (MovNDMx)—a national network of over 60 family-led collectives. From Sinaloa, we join our voices with families across the country. Together, we say: search now, justice always!

What do we want the world to know?

We want you to know that we are not just statistics. Our missing loved ones had dreams, families, favorite songs, favorite foods. Each one deserves to come home. And until they do, we will not stop.

Final Words

We, the Sabuesos Guerreras, are not looking for revenge. We’re looking for people. For hugs that were stolen from us. For answers. And we want to do this with dignity.

We are not heroes. We are mothers. And a mother never gives up.

Sources that share our story: