Armed with new tech, families track down Mexico's missing Premium

More than 40 collectives — made up of families who have lost a relative — are now using tech to kickstart mass searches and do so within hours of a disappearance to increase life chances.

It takes painstaking leg work — grieving mothers knocking door to door with photos and bereft wives scouring mass graves for clues. Now victims of Mexico's missing persons crisis can also use technology to track down their loved ones.

From chatbots to mass texts, social media to online guides, tech has transformed the painful hunt that thousands of Mexicans must undertake to find a ransomed relative. Or unearth their corpse.

"Technology is how we learn from cases around the country; we come together to share experiences and provide guidance to other families," said Maricel Torres, whose son was kidnapped in 2011 at the age of 17.

A dozen years later and Ms. Torres remains in limbo. From her son's kidnap, however, came hope for others.

After the teenager vanished, Ms. Torres spent all her days — and sleepless nights — riding cabs around Poza Rica, a city in the eastern state of Veracruz, going house by house for any clues to the whereabouts of her missing son.

All she knew was that on the night of May 25, 2011, Iván Eduardo Castillo Torres went out for tacos with friends then was kidnapped off the street by members of the local police force.

Giving chase was a lonely task for Ms. Torres, who said she felt abandoned by the authorities and sidelined by society.