Searching for the Lost WEB
Metadata
- Searching for the Lost WEB
- June 6, 2022
- Content Type Program
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV Searching for the Lost - Smit HEADLINE: In Tijuana, Families Search for Missing Loved Ones TEASER: One mother of a missing child has been doing this for 14 years PUBLISHED AT: 6/6/2022 at 1:05pm BYLINE: Cristina Caicedo Smith CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Tijuana, Mexico VIDEOGRAPHER: Pablo Samora VIDEO EDITOR: SCRIPT EDITORS: KE; Holly Franko VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:50 VID APPROVED BY: KE TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO:)) [[Year after year, families in Tijuana, Mexico, come together to search for loved ones who have disappeared. Fearing the worst, they gather with rods, shovels, and other equipment to search for the remains of those who were in the area and never heard from again. VOA News reporter Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story.]] ((NARRATOR)) On the outskirts of the city of Tijuana, Mexico, in an area known as the San Pedro Valley … ((NAT SOUND and video of the area, moving car)) A group of men and women gather in search of their loved ones who have disappeared. Teresita del Niño de Jesús traveled from Mazatlán, nearly two-thousand kilometers from Tijuana, to search for her son, Juan Antonio Orpinela Osuna, whom she has not seen for more than 10 years. ((Teresita del Niño de Jesús, Mother of Missing Child)) ((IN SPANISH)) “My son came to spend a few days with his uncle. His uncle is called Modesto Orpinela, and after three or four days in Tijuana, armed commandos in several trucks ambushed them. They took him away." ((NARRATOR)) Teresita only travels to Tijuana when she receives an indication from the Mexican authorities that the remains of her son could be in the places they’re searching. She has been doing this for 14 years. In the same group is Flor de Guarda Costa, who is looking for the father of her children. Her partner disappeared in September of last year. Four months ago, she joined the United Association for the Disappeared of Baja California. ((Flor de Guarda Costa, Partner of Missing Person)) ((IN SPANISH)) "They took him from the ‘Hill of the bees’ (Cerro de las Abejas) ... apparently by a woman, and we never saw him again." ((NARRATOR)) The day begins with a meeting of families. They travel in caravans and arrive at the places where the survey of the area will be done. ((Flor de Guarda Costa, Partner of Missing Person)) ((IN SPANISH)) "We get off, we organize ourselves, and we begin and divide the work, well, we rule out all the places." ((NARRATOR)) A titanic task undertaken by mothers and fathers who, over the years, have found support in one another. ((José Fernando Ortigoza, United Association for the Disappeared)) ((IN SPANISH)) “He was 26 years old … I lost him crossing the border at the Otay port of entry.” ((NARRATOR)) Families who have done this for a while say they prick the ground with the rod, then pick it up and smell it. If it has a smell, they say, it means there is something under there, maybe human remains. Today they are accompanied by members of the Mexican National Guard, the police, the prosecutor’s office and experts. The workday ends with a “positive,” meaning they have found bones or remains in the search area. The evidence is sent to the forensic team in Mexico City, where DNA tests will be carried out on the remains and compared with the relatives who are involved in this search. This time, Teresita returns empty-handed … but she’s not discouraged. She says she will keep looking. ((Teresita del Niño de Jesús, Mother of Missing Child)) ((IN SPANISH)) "Of course, because I am in the place where they took him, where I think he is ... here." ((NARRATOR)) ((Cristina Caicedo Smit, VOA News, Tijuana, Mexico.))
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV Searching for the Lost - Smit HEADLINE: In Tijuana, Families Search for Missing Loved Ones TEASER: One mother of a missing child has been doing this for 14 years PUBLISHED AT: 6/6/2022 at 1:05pm BYLINE: Cristina Caicedo Smith CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Tijuana, Mexico VIDEOGRAPHER: Pablo Samora VIDEO EDITOR: SCRIPT EDITORS: KE; Holly Franko VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:50 VID APPROVED BY: KE TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO:)) [[Year after year, families in Tijuana, Mexico, come together to search for loved ones who have disappeared. Fearing the worst, they gather with rods, shovels, and other equipment to search for the remains of those who were in the area and never heard from again. VOA News reporter Cristina Caicedo Smit has the story.]] ((NARRATOR)) On the outskirts of the city of Tijuana, Mexico, in an area known as the San Pedro Valley … ((NAT SOUND and video of the area, moving car)) A group of men and women gather in search of their loved ones who have disappeared. Teresita del Niño de Jesús traveled from Mazatlán, nearly two-thousand kilometers from Tijuana, to search for her son, Juan Antonio Orpinela Osuna, whom she has not seen for more than 10 years. ((Teresita del Niño de Jesús, Mother of Missing Child)) ((IN SPANISH)) “My son came to spend a few days with his uncle. His uncle is called Modesto Orpinela, and after three or four days in Tijuana, armed commandos in several trucks ambushed them. They took him away." ((NARRATOR)) Teresita only travels to Tijuana when she receives an indication from the Mexican authorities that the remains of her son could be in the places they’re searching. She has been doing this for 14 years. In the same group is Flor de Guarda Costa, who is looking for the father of her children. Her partner disappeared in September of last year. Four months ago, she joined the United Association for the Disappeared of Baja California. ((Flor de Guarda Costa, Partner of Missing Person)) ((IN SPANISH)) "They took him from the ‘Hill of the bees’ (Cerro de las Abejas) ... apparently by a woman, and we never saw him again." ((NARRATOR)) The day begins with a meeting of families. They travel in caravans and arrive at the places where the survey of the area will be done. ((Flor de Guarda Costa, Partner of Missing Person)) ((IN SPANISH)) "We get off, we organize ourselves, and we begin and divide the work, well, we rule out all the places." ((NARRATOR)) A titanic task undertaken by mothers and fathers who, over the years, have found support in one another. ((José Fernando Ortigoza, United Association for the Disappeared)) ((IN SPANISH)) “He was 26 years old … I lost him crossing the border at the Otay port of entry.” ((NARRATOR)) Families who have done this for a while say they prick the ground with the rod, then pick it up and smell it. If it has a smell, they say, it means there is something under there, maybe human remains. Today they are accompanied by members of the Mexican National Guard, the police, the prosecutor’s office and experts. The workday ends with a “positive,” meaning they have found bones or remains in the search area. The evidence is sent to the forensic team in Mexico City, where DNA tests will be carried out on the remains and compared with the relatives who are involved in this search. This time, Teresita returns empty-handed … but she’s not discouraged. She says she will keep looking. ((Teresita del Niño de Jesús, Mother of Missing Child)) ((IN SPANISH)) "Of course, because I am in the place where they took him, where I think he is ... here." ((NARRATOR)) ((Cristina Caicedo Smit, VOA News, Tijuana, Mexico.))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date June 6, 2022 13:16 EDT
- Byline Cristina Caicedo Smith
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America