Vanishings in Mexico aren’t just frequent; they’re surging.
Disappearances in Mexico are not only common — they’re rising sharply. A new study by the think tank México Evalúa reports that cases have surged by more than 200% over the past decade, climbing from 4,114 in 2015 to 12,872 in 2025. Researchers link the increase to the expansion and changing tactics of criminal groups. In battles for territory, victims are often dissolved, burned, or buried in clandestine graves to eliminate evidence. Cartels have also diversified beyond drug trafficking into activities associated with disappearances, including forced recruitment, human trafficking, and organ trafficking.
Analyst Armando Vargas calls the crisis “uncontrollable at the national level.” Although the government established the National Search Commission in 2018 along with a public registry of missing persons, both efforts have been constrained by limited funding. With most crimes unresolved, families — often mothers — are carrying out their own searches for mass graves. The Guardian has reported on one woman who, while searching for her son who disappeared at a bus stop in 2022, uncovered 11 bodies — none of them his.
Meanwhile, Associated Press described the search for 10 employees of a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine who were abducted in January. The bodies of five missing workers were found among 10 sets of remains at one site, with additional remains discovered at four other locations. Identifying the victims is difficult, as “there are many missing,” AP noted, pointing to seven tourists and a local business owner abducted in Mazatlán since October — only two of whom have been found alive.
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