Lost in Mexico--11 more bodies dumped

Eleven more bodies were dumped in Mexico in four different places on Friday, after the initial 35, just a few days ago.

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News like this is alarming to anyone no matter where you live, but when your son lives in San Diego and he calls you Saturday morning and says, "Mom, I'm lost in Mexico," the dynamics change quite a bit!

I desperately jumped on Mapquest, with my heart racing, hoping to pull up exactly where he said he was so I could guide him to the border crossing. Scrambling, I tried to quickly type in the words he was saying. I urgently prompted him, "How do you spell it?"

He tried to spell it, but with the call dropping on and off, it was impossible. Finally, he said he had turned around and he was going to try to back track. We hung up. I sat stunned for a moment thinking about the articles I had written and read about Mexico. Tears began flowing down my cheeks.

Immediately I put a plea out on Facebook for friends to pray for him. I cried nonstop until he called me again, a couple minutes later. In the meantime, my sister-in-law and an old friend, Trudi, from my hometown, Cottage Grove, said they were praying and told me to have faith.

I began jumping back and forth on Facebook to Mapquest, getting nowhere fast on Mapquest. I felt helpless. I got up and paced for a minute.

He called back. I urged him, "Colt, you have to get out of there, do you know what is going on in Mexico lately?"

He said, "No."

Not wanting to freak him out, like I already was, I said, "Colt, I can't tell you until you cross the border--where are you now?"

He said, "The sign says, Playa de Tijuana." He spelled it and said it to me three or four times.

I desperately pulled it up on Mapquest which gave me no help because it was just a flag in the middle of a bunch of roads, like it was an area rather than a specific location.

I began panicking. "Don't pull over, don't stop Colt, just keep driving." Then the call dropped. I sat in silence for a couple of minutes feeling, all of a sudden, very much alone.

He called back, I kept asking, "Colt...Colt...Colt?!"

Finally I heard him talking to a man with broken English and a Spanish accent. I could hear the man directing him all the while I was thinking, "You can't trust anyone in Mexico."

He reassured me he was okay and was going to try to follow the man's directions and said, "Mom, calm down, what is your problem, quit crying."

I said, "Colt, you aren't going to believe what is going on in Mexico, I can't believe you don't watch the news and know what's going on down there!" We hung up.

I thought, "I haven't even prayed myself, Oh my gosh, do I have no faith in God...?" I prayed and sat there. Then I called my husband, crying.

He answered, "Hello, what...I can't understand you...what's wrong...what happened...Colt is lost in Mexico? Tell him to turn around and go back the way he came! He must get back to the border," he said with urgency.

"I know, he knows all that--35 bodies were dumped on the highway in Mexico last week, and yesterday 11 more bodies were dumped in four different locations! He could get arrested just for having green eyes and California plates!" I yelled.

I told him how his sister Megan said to call the San Diego Police Department to ask them to help. He said, "Good, call me when you hear something."

My phone rang shortly thereafter, "Where are you...Colt...where are you--Colt?"

"Mom, I'm at the border, now I just need to get across," he said with a little laugh at the end.

Finally, Colt made it across the border, he called me and we laughed, talked, and laughed---then I told him. "Wow, I didn't know anything about bodies dumped--where was it--was it in Tijuana?" he asked.

I lashed out, "I don't care where it was, Colt, the point is, Mexico isn't safe--they'll arrest you for having California plates!"

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Back to the news...

Police found 11 bodies dumped near the port city of Veracruz. They suspect drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman had something to do with the first 35 tortured victims, which included 12 women and 23 men. CNN reports that the violence comes right when state prosecutors and judges meet in Boca del Rio.

"The effects of this illicit activity are not only seen reflected in the poisoning of our society, but it is also the motor generating the violence," Attorney General Marisela Morales said.

According to government figures, around 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in the past five years, while some independent reports show even higher tolls.