Tulum and Playa del Carmen lead in missing persons in Quintana Roo

Tulum and Playa del Carmen, destinations of strong tourist flow and population migration, lead in the number of reported cases of missing persons in Quintana Roo.

Tulum and Playa del Carmen lead in missing persons in Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo is a migratory phenomenon, people from all states of the country arrive daily and reside permanently. Photo by Jorge Fernández Salas / Unsplash

Tulum and Playa del Carmen, destinations of strong tourist flow and population migration, lead in the number of reported cases of missing persons in Quintana Roo. According to the social services and alerts of the State Attorney General's Office, Amber Alert, and Alba Protocol of Quintana Roo, so far in 2022, more than 130 people have been reported missing and just over 70 percent of them have disappeared in the area of Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Ninety percent of the people reported missing in Quintana Roo disappear between Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum. From January to date, the Attorney General's Office has issued 49 social service alerts, 49 Amber Alerts, and 37 Alba Protocols to search for missing persons. The Cancun-Tulum corridor has become the area with the greatest impact on the disappearance of tourists and migrants, according to the reports received by the State Attorney General's Office, which has issued search reports.

Quintana Roo is a migratory phenomenon, people from all states of the country arrive daily and foreigners from more than 120 countries, who have emigrated in search of work and better opportunities, reside permanently. Many of them have lost contact with their families and have mysteriously disappeared, for which their families have filed a complaint and authorities have launched the corresponding alert and initiated their search.

In Tulum, the Romanian tourist Mirela Stefanía Stanciu and the Egyptian Zein Ahmed Hani Mohamed Dakrouri disappeared recently. Francisco Luis Alberto Talavera from Paraguay disappeared last week in Cancun, as well as the Honduran Sergio Avedis Garcias Ayala, the latter has already been located. Cleyber Afalberto Perez Lopez, Mexican of 36 damages disappeared this week in Tulum according to the alert 48/ZN/2022 of the prosecutor's office.

The list of missing persons

In Tulum, Dulce María Cen Coyuc, 11 years old, Ildefonso Cruz González, 62 years old, Yolanda Ciau May, 14 years old, Merri Estefani Chacón Chimal, 12 years old, Roger Chacón Chimal, 17 years old, Brayan Efraín Aguirre Bustillos, 22 years old, Miguel Angel May Mendoza, 21 years old, José Antonio Ruiz Quiroz, 50 years old, Artemio Lorenzana Barrera, 54 years old, Brayan Efraín Aguirre Bustillos, 22 years old, Miguel Angel May Mendoza, 21 years old, José Antonio Ruiz Quiroz, 50 years old, Artemio Lorenzana Barrera, 54 years old, Elmer Hugo Miss Orama, 21 years old and Enrique de Jesus Tauz Nahuat, 20 years old, among others.

In Playa del Carmen, Mario Ernesto Lara Tenreiro, 40 years old, Fernanda Isabel Apolinar Hernández, 16 years old, Juan Carlos Salaya Gutiérrez, 48 years old, Mariano Giovani Ruiz Molina, 37 years old, Maira Magaly Gutiérrez Gómez, 15 years old, María de Jesús Gordillo Gutiérrez, 13 years old, Andrea Espinosa Vázquez, 13, Merari Rodriguez González, 15, San Marcos Uc Kiauc, 17, Zurimi Belen Pech Camal, 11, Karla Michel Yerena Sánchez, 23, Nancy Crystel Rosado Soberanis, 19, and Luz Nahomi Farías Prieto, 16.

In the same area of Playa del Carmen municipality of Solidaridad, the whereabouts of Eunice Ku Contreras, 28, José Anival Moreno Silva, 32, Ruth Guerrero Cruz, 44, Jesús Emiliano Flores Jáuregui, 19, Roberta Estela Servín Sánchez, 14, Ángel Ismael Mo Cetina, 39, Alicia del Carmen Sonda Pasos, 24, Yitzel Adriana Torre Hernández, 13, Sahori Zadaí Hernández Cruz, 13 are unknown, Alexis del Carmen López Urbina age 26, Debora Noemi Albores Vázquez age 26, Ana María Santis Gómez age 15, Jaime Alfredo Ku Mazum age 29, Denis Monserrat Velázquez Cruz age 14, Pedro Antonio Greu Valenzuela age 22, Sadhi Anahí Sánchez Martínez age 13, Ruth Esther Almedia Vázquez age 14, Luz del Alba Flores Chablé age 16 and Italia López Solórzano age 17.

In Puerto Aventuras, some 20 kilometers south of Playa del Carmen, on the way to Tulum, 38 year-old Daniel Miguel Castañeda, 18 year-old Diego Hernández Hubert, 13 year-old Silvia Liseide Hernández Hubert and 11 year-old Ricardo Silva López disappeared.

In Cancún there are also several reports of missing persons, such as Miguel Angel Martell González, 61 years old, Herny Israel Pérez Ferrer, 35 years old, Yatziri Hidalgo Chan, 13 years old, Leticia Garduza López, 13 years old, Alexander Martínez González, 15 years old, Feliz Agustín Jiménez Acopa, 17 years old, and Alessandra Monserrat Hernández Monrroy, 17 years old.

Geography makes security difficult in this entity

The disappearance of these people in the first 70 days of the year is concentrated in the northern zone of Quintana Roo, where there is the greatest migratory flow and floating population, the greatest concentration of population, as well as the greatest tourist activity and cases of insecurity.

Tulum and Playa del Carmen, due to their jungle geography, urban anarchy, and irregular settlements, have become the most unsafe areas in the state to immigrate, work and live, as confirmed by the statistics of violence and missing persons. The disappearance of people in this zone contrasts with the cases registered on a smaller scale in the municipalities of Cozumel, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, José María Morelos, Bacalar, Chetumal, Puerto Morelos, Lázaro Cárdenas and Isla Mujeres.