In Mexico, activist mother of missing man is slain

In Mexico, activist mother of missing man is slain
May 20, 2014, 6:00 AM|Reporting from Mexico City

For 2 1/2 years, Sandra Luz Hernandez, like so many Mexican mothers, searched for her missing son..

Her activism grew steadily over time. She hung posters of her son and others who had disappeared. She led marches through her hometown of Culiacan, in the infamous drug cartel state of Sinaloa. She staged sit-ins outside the governor's office to demand justice. She scoured morgues and clandestine mass graves.

Last week, friends and colleagues say, her activism got her killed. Gunmen leaped from an SUV, put on masks and shot Hernandez dead in broad daylight on a Culiacan street.

"I don't know if she was getting closer" to finding out what happened to her son, said Oscar Loza, head of the Sinaloa Human Rights Commission. "But clearly that's what her enemies thought."

Hernandez, 52, became the latest of dozens of Mexican human rights activists slain in the line of work. The fact that so few of those cases have been prosecuted, or even investigated, has given criminals and corrupt officials carte blanche to eliminate those who challenge their power

More:
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-mother-20140520-story.html