“The entire border is a carpet of human remains.” For the last couple of years, I’ve been reaching out to people who use Facebook to track down loved ones who disappeared crossing the desert. Most don’t want to talk to a reporter. This case was different.https://www.revealnews.org/article/lost-on-the-border-a-decade-later-a-man-finds-his-fathers-remains-on-facebook/ …
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The U.S. has built walls, increased surveillance, even taking babies from their mothers at the border in order to deter crossings. None of it has worked. It doesn’t stop people from making the journey — it just makes people take riskier routes. And riskier routes can mean death.
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We mapped out the location of Eliseo Cárdenas Zetina’s remains in Arizona. It’s treacherous terrain but he was three miles away from a highway. Ten years later, some of what remains are scattered bones, a shoe, and a laminated ID that, hidden in a cave, survived the wind and sun.pic.twitter.com/H77sUgjEGc
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The volunteers who scour the desert to find the remains of people who’ve disappeared? They’re mostly immigrants; some are formerly undocumented. The old truck they use doesn’t even always work. The fundraiser they started three months ago only raised $1600https://www.gofundme.com/armadillos-busqueda-y-rescate1 …
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Los Armadillos went out again, this time looking for 21-year-old Christian de Jesús Terrazas López, who went missing in July. This is the third time they searched for him. The group started at 5a yesterday and found his remains some hours later.
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This story is all over Facebook lost-on-the-border pages and individual profiles I follow. The story is purely chronicled by people who are most affected by it. His family. His community. Those who found him. But it’s completely absent English- and Spanish-language media.
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The story I posted about Eliseo Cárdenas Zetina/Los Armadillos focused on the way people use Facebook as a community news service for those searching for and finding loved ones lost on the border. Too many readers, who I assume didn’t actually read the story, missed that.
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Everyday people, wholly unaffiliated with the state or the media, organically created a loose but vibrant community news service on Facebook. Media are always wondering what FB means for the future of news. But few pay enough attention to vulnerable communities to find out.
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