Woman Hunts Down 10 Mexican Cartel Members Who Kidnapped Her Daughter

Woman Hunts Down 10 Mexican Cartel Members Who Kidnapped Her Daughter Facebook/Miriam Rodriguez

Miriam Rodriguez Martinez faced every parent’s worst nightmare when her daughter, Karen, was abducted and killed by a Mexican drug cartel. Knowing she had little chance of seeing justice served, she decided to take matters into her own hands. In total, she tracked down 10 members of the cartel and got them arrested for their crimes. What a hero!

Doing her own investigation, Rodriguez learned that it was one of the country’s most dangerous cartels, Los Zetas, that was behind Karen’s kidnapping. She was able to finger one member in particular for the crime and began looking for more answers to try and bring her daughter home.

In order to do so, she had to be inconspicuous. She went undercover as a healthcare worker performing a survey in the local area and managed to get enough dirt on the suspect to have him arrested. Her son Luis helped with the operation, which proved to be extremely beneficial for the police.

Once the cartel member was behind bars, his sense of loyalty to the others all but vanished. He was happy to share the names of loads of other gang members, one of whom was barely 18. Miriam Rodriguez managed to gain the young man’s trust to get him to tell her where Karen was.

Sadly, it wasn’t a happy discovery. Instead, she discovered Karen had been murdered. And while she was devastated by the loss, this only fueled Rodriguez further. She wanted to find other people’s missing loved ones and bring more killers to justice. That’s exactly what she dedicated her life to doing over the next few years.

To do so, she used a variety of disguises to remain under the radar. She was able to get close to gang members and their families to gain incriminating information and get the men behind bars. In total, she was able to get 10 cartel members arrested and prosecuted for their crimes.

Of course, Rodriguez’s bravery came with serious risk. On May 10, 2017, the day Mexico celebrates Mother’s Day, she was fatally shot 12 times in her home by gunmen who broke in specifically to silence her forever. Her son, Luis, is continuing the work his mother gravely pioneered. He now works with the San Fernando Missing Persons Activists Collective to bring these criminals to justice.

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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