Magdaleno Pérez Santes, a member of the María Herrera Collective in Poza Rica, Veracruz, was allegedly murdered by Municipal Police agents, according to local search collectives reported on March 11. Olga Lidia Salazar Hernández, from the collective 'United by Love for Our Disappeared,' stated that municipal and state police in the area harass and intimidate searchers.
The 41-year-old man, a resident of Tres Cruces, Papantla, was detained in Poza Rica and, according to his family, was brutally beaten with a pipe by the agents at the corporation's facilities. After being released, he returned home where he died from his injuries. This tragic event adds to the disappearance of the search father Héctor Aparicio Martínez in the same region.
The State Council for Search in Veracruz condemned the crime and requested a thorough investigation to bring those responsible to justice. They emphasized the importance of protecting searching families, expressing solidarity with the family of Magdaleno Pérez Santes and all those facing risks in the search for their loved ones.
Magdaleno Pérez was searching for his daughter who disappeared in 2019, and his tragic murder has generated outrage in the area.
