Parents in Mexico agonize over missing teens, pray they're not among 53 tractor-trailer victims: "It was his decision and his own dream"

Clutching rosaries, residents of the mountain village of San Marcos Atexquilapan, Mexico stared at photographs of three of their own atop the altar at the local church, praying that teenagers Jair, Yovani and Misael were not among the 53 migrants who perished inside a stifling trailer in Texas.

The wait for confirmation has been agonizing for families from Mexico to Honduras. Now they hope for what before would have been dreaded -- capture by the Border Patrol, even hospitalization -- anything but the solemn finality that has been trickling out family by family across the region.

Then again, at least they would know. For now parents re-read last messages, swipe through photos, wait for a phone call and pray.