Zenaida Pulido Lonbera, social activist, was shot dead on Friday, July 19, 2019 on the side of the coastal road, 122 km from Aquila in Michoacán.

Zenaida was highly recognized in Michoacán because of her dedicated work to find missing persons. As part of her work, she was part of the organizing team for the Caravana Internacional de Búsqueda de Desaparecidos “Buscando encontraremos”, an international search party that took place in Aquila and Lázaro Cárdenas (Michoacán) in April-May 2019. On Wednesday, May 8, 2019, during the Caravana, the group found a clandestine grave with 43 skeletal remains, as well as shotgun shells, buttons, coins, shoes and clothing.

Her active involvement in search parties, made Zenaida a target of death threats. And more recently, she had reported the dissapearance of other family members, presumably adbucted by criminal groups in the area.

From 2006 to June 2019, a total of 3,404 people have been reported as missing in Michoacán. Out of that total, 1,522 people were found alive and 126 dead. However, in 13 years, 1,756 people remain missing. The cities with the highest number of missing persons are Uruapan, Sahuayo and Apatzingán.