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She devoted her life to discovering her daughter's killers, then she was killed herself/ Miriam Rodríguez's extraordinary story

2023-04-23 09:40:00, Kuriozitete CNA

She devoted her life to discovering her daughter's killers, then she was

Illustrative photo

Miriam Rodriguez dedicated her life to seeking justice for her daughter, Karen. Her 20-year-old daughter was kidnapped and killed by Mexican cartel members in 2014.

Miriam vowed that she would do everything to find out the perpetrators of the crime. She changed her appearance, infiltrated the homes of cartel members and spent hours surfing social media for information.

Carrying a handgun, Rodriguez would shoot her daughter's captors herself, sometimes chasing them on foot until the police arrived.

Miriam Rodriguez's tireless efforts for justice - made her a heroine in San Fernando, Mexico. But this also brought him many enemies. And on national Mother's Day in 2017, the 57-year-old was shot dead in front of her home.

Kidnapping the girl

For Miriam, everything changed on January 23, 2014. That day her 20-year-old daughter Karen was driving through San Fernando when 2 cars started following her. They stopped and some armed men forced their way into her car, kidnapped her and sped away.

Rodriguez and her family tried for weeks to find and bring Karen home. They knew she had been kidnapped by members of the Los Zetas cartel, who were known for kidnapping innocent people and using the rewards for their release to finance the cartel's operations.

Karen's family tried to follow all the cartel's instructions. Bombarded with a barrage of threatening phone calls, they took out a bank loan to pay the ransom for Karen's release, and left a bag of money at a location they were asked to. However, Karen did not return home.

Left with no other option, Miriam Rodriguez asked to meet with a cartel member. To her surprise, one of them agreed. Although he told her he didn't know where her daughter was, he offered to help her find her for $2,000.

Rodriguez paid the fee, but this action did not bring him any benefit either. However, she learned the young man's name: Sama. She told the other girl that she believed Karen was dead, but that she would not find peace until she discovered her captors.

A desperate mother's quest for justice

Slowly, Miriam Rodríguez began to gather information about her daughter's kidnappers. After finding Sama on Facebook, she identified one of his friends, dressed in an ice cream shop uniform, and spent hours waiting outside the shop until he showed up.

Then he followed behind, found out where Sama lived. However, he still needed more information. In order to sneak around his neighborhood undetected, she dyed her hair red, wore an old uniform, and chatted with his neighbors, pretending to conduct a "survey."

Pasi u shpërfill nga autoritetet, Rodrigez gjeti më në fund një aleat brenda policisë federale, i cili ishte i gatshëm ta ndihmonte. Edhe pse Sama i shpëtoi arrestimit herën e parë, policia mundi ta ndalonte një ditë. Sama i dha policisë emrat e anëtarëve të tjerë të kartelit, të cilët hodhën edhe më shumë dritë mbi rrëmbimin e Karen. Madje njëri pranoi ta çonte policinë në fermën ku ishte vrarë Karen.

Në fermë, Rodrigez gjeti shallin e Karen dhe njërën nga kockat e eshtrave të saj. Më pas, rinisi kërkimin e saj për të gjetur vrasësit e të bijës. Ajo do të gjurmonte 10 anëtarë të kartelit që kishin luajtur një rol në rrëmbimin e vajzës së saj. Shumë prej tyre ishin larguar nga karteli dhe po përpiqeshin të nisin jetën nga e para si të krishterë të rilindur, apo si shitës lulesh, por Rodrigez nuk kishte pak simpati për ta.

“Ku ishte dhembshuria e tij kur më vranë vajzën?”-ulëriti ajo kur një nga anëtarët e kartelit u arrestua në një kishë, akt që shkaktoi protestat e komunitetit të besimtarëve. Miriam u bë e famshme në San Fernando. Ajo ishte jo vetëm ballë për ballë me një armik të fuqishëm, por po sfidonte gjithashtu një mënyrë jetese.

Ajo dukej se e kuptoi rrezikun e veprimtarisë së saj, dhe tha se nuk kishte frikë nga vdekja. “Nuk më intereson nëse më vrasin. Unë kam vdekur në shpirt që ditën që më vranë vajzën. Dua t’i jap fund kësaj. Unë do të shkatërroj njerëzit që lënduan vajzën time, pastaj le të bëjnë çfarë të duan për mua”- i tha një miku. Tragjikisht fjalët e saj rezultuan të ishin profetike.

Si u vra Miriam Rodrigez nga anëtarët e kartelit

Miriam u shndërrua në një aktiviste për familjet, të dashurit e të cilëve ishin zhdukur në Meksikë. Në marsin e vitit 2017, 29 të burgosur hapën një tunel dhe u arratisën nga një burg në Ciudad Victoria, ku ishin burgosur rrëmbyesit e Karen. Miriam Rodríguez kërkoi mbrojtje nga policia dhe policia lokale ra dakord të dërgonte një patrullë.

Por më 10 maj, ditën kur Meksika feston Ditën e Nënës, 57-vjeçarja ishte duke ecur para shtëpisë së saj me paterica. Ajo kishte thyer së fundmi këmbën duke ndjekur një të dyshuar, kur një “Nissan” i bardhë i drejtuar nga të burgosurit e arratisur i doli përpara duke e qëlluar disa herë

Her husband found her lying lifeless, with her hand inside the bag where she kept the pistol. Miriam's death outraged people across the state. Governor Francisco de Vaca wrote on Twitter: "The government of Tamaulipas will not allow the death of Miriam Rodríguez to become another statistic."

The government arrested 2 of Rodriguez's killers, and a third was killed in a gunfight. The BBC reports that around 100,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2007, when the then Mexican president declared a "war on drugs"./ Adapted from CNA.al