14-year-old Alexa Martínez Hernández left her home in Tijuana’s El Chamizal neighborhood on September 2, 2024, and never returned. Since then, her whereabouts remain unknown, and her family is intensely searching for her in an effort to locate her alive.
Alexa is one of the visible faces of a serious issue plaguing Baja California, particularly Tijuana: the disappearance of girls and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18. Her case is noticeable because her family is publicly searching for her, but there are hundreds of similar cases in the region.
In the last few years, Baja California has been under a Gender Alert due to the fact that it is the state with the highest number of disappearances of girls and teenagers in the country. Considering that the state has the highest number of missing persons overall, this has become a worrying and worsening issue.
This trend was revealed in a study carried out by the organization Elementa DDHH from 2006 to the present, based on transparency platforms and records from the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
The report has uncovered “a very serious problem” as it “highlights a possible connection to human trafficking, which we are not discussing, and I believe this is related to the disappearance phenomenon,” said Olimpia Martínez, a collaborator in the Advocacy area of Elementa DDHH.
The activist stated that the results show that “there is no other border state where girls and women in this age range disappear so frequently.” Of the 17,306 missing people recorded by the organization in Baja California, 44.9% are women within this age range.
Human Trafficking and Organized Crime
Angélica Ramírez, founder of the organization Una Nación Buscándo T, reaffirmed the severity of this issue as it increasingly affects more families. She confirmed that “our groups are receiving more and more search notices for young girls, many of which are related to violence and human trafficking.”
“This trafficking problem has always existed in Baja California, but it has been hidden very well, and few want to get involved due to the danger it entails. We have also seen cases related to recruitment by organized crime,” she emphasized.
Unfortunately, the activist explained, these girls’ vulnerable condition makes them easy targets for exploitation. Making this issue even more complicated, human trafficking is a highly lucrative network involving multiple factors that put those investigating it at great risk.
“Something we have always been told is that it is cheaper to have those investigating killed than to lose an entire human trafficking network, which not only involves sexual exploitation but also smuggling people to the United States, selling them there, and organ trafficking,” she stated.
Ramírez pointed out that “many authorities are part of these networks because, if they weren’t, there would be more follow-ups, protocols, and investigations into finding them more quickly. It’s sad because this is a very difficult issue and has been happening for many years.”
Baja California’s Gender Violence Alert
Baja California currently has a Gender Violence Alert, a set of emergency government actions to address and eradicate feminicide-related violence, which applies to all municipalities in the state. “This is symptomatic because the state ranks among the highest in terms of disappearances of women and girls nationwide,” said Olimpia Martínez.
In this regard, the State Human Rights Commission of Baja California (CEDHBC) confirmed to San Diego Red that, as an organization, it has been monitoring the progress and proof of compliance of the Gender Violence Alert presented by the authorities.
“It is important to highlight that the Gender Violence Alert is an instrument that, by itself, is not enough to eradicate violence against women and girls,” said ombudsman Jorge Álvaro Ochoa Orduño.
He added that, beyond this instrument, the CEDHBC has continued to emphasize the importance of gender-sensitive actions by first responders such as police forces, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), and the Search Commission in all activities related to the disappearances of women, regarding both assistance and investigation.
He stressed that the CEDHBC has established follow-up commissions for complaints and recommendations with both municipal and state authorities, where the organization has also highlighted the importance of preventing the stigmatization or prejudgment of victims who go missing.
13 Girls Missing in December
In December 2024 alone, FGE issued search notices for 13 missing girls within this age range, which means that, on average, a girl is reported missing every third day. This reflects the magnitude of this seemingly endless problem.
In Tijuana, the following girls disappeared: Cinthya Itzel Pérez Alcaráz, 14 years old; Heidi Alexsandra Martínez Viramontes, 14 years old; Allisson Michelle Martínez Ramírez, 16 years old; Nadia Yunuen Nava Fierro, 16 years old; Britany Yazmín Avena Robles, 16 years old; Kenia Mishell Rodríguez Orosco, 17 years old; Maribel Véliz Martínez, 15 years old; Evelin Suhey Castillo Ruiz, 16 years old.
From Playas de Rosarito: Joselin Yanitzy Díaz Méndez, 12 years old; Evelyn Lucero Díaz Méndez, 13 years old; Luna Belén Antonio Díaz, 17 years old; Emily Dayana Hernández García, 15 years old. From Tecate: Jeniffer Ibarra Valenzuela, 17 years old.
All of them currently have search notices and investigations underway for their location and recovery. As of yet, no precise information about their whereabouts is available and, according to some family members, they are searching for them by themselves with their own resources, though some of them are being supported by groups.
Attorney General’s Office Doesn’t Invest in Searches
While this problem grows and worsens, FGE has not specified the actual location, budget, or protocols to be established with the Local Search Commission for Missing People, leading to dissatisfaction among several groups in the state.
To understand how much the Attorney General’s Office invests in searching for missing people, Elementa DDHH carried out a study titled “In Search of a Budget: Investment of Local Search Commissions 2023.” It revealed that, in that year, the local commission in Baja California was given a budget of 35,522,916 pesos.
However, the commission spent most of the money on public investment, personal services, and the acquisition of personal property and real estate, which amounted to a total of 31,044,917 pesos. This is almost the entire budget that should have been invested in tools and protocols for searching and locating missing people.
