If you haven’t heard of Miriam Rodríguez Martínez, you are missing out on one of the biggest folk heroes in Mexican history. The mother single-handedly tracked down the people who killed her daughter and exposed cartel violence in a new way. Her story of resilience, justice, and determination to seek justice for her abducted daughter is inspiring.

Miriam Rodríguez Martínez became a voice for the voiceless

Rodríguez Martínez lived in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico all of her life. She raised her family there among the growing cartel violence that gripped the Mexican state. For years, Los Zetas, a cartel known for their violence, has used Tamaulipas as their battleground. The cartel shocks and awes people with its brutal tactics. The violent crimes include beheadings and torture.

In 2012, Rodríguez Martínez joined a growing list of families and parents who have lost loved ones to growing cartel violence. The cartel abducted and murdered her daughter Karen Rodríguez. The tragedy sparked activism in Rodríguez Martínez and she started what would become a famous story of justice.

Devastated by the death of her daughter, Rodríguez Martínez set out to seek justice. For five years, she used disguises, fake IDs, and pure instinct to systematically track down those responsible for her daughter’s death and more.

The heartbroken mother turned over cartel members to authorities

Rodríguez Martínez’s journey in finding justice for her daughter is like something out of an action movie. For years, she quietly and methodically did her own investigation into the death of her daughter. She was frustrated with the lack of urgency from authorities, like many families in Mexico. So, she took matters into her own hands.

It took Rodríguez Martínez two years to find her daughter’s unmarked grave. She was able to identify her daughter’s remains because of a scarf that belonged to her. This discovery was not enough. While she was grateful to have located her daughter, she often said she would never be the same after the tragic death.

“She told us that she was incomplete, that although she had found her daughter, nothing would ever return to normal for her,” Graciela Pérez, another mother of a missing child, told the BBC in 2017.

Her incredible journey after finding her daughter’s grave included getting 10 members of the Los Zetas cartel arrested for various violent crimes. She even prevented her husband’s kidnapping when she chased cartel members in her car. She was truly a fearless woman who would stop at nothing to protect the rest of her family and community.

Her efforts made her a target and she was killed on May 10, 2017

Cartel members shot and killed Rodríguez Martínez in her home on May 10, 2017. Her death came at the end of years spent fighting for families. May 10 is Mothers Day in Mexico and the death sent anger and shockwaves through the international community. According to The New York Times, cartel members broke into Rodríguez Martínez’s home in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico and shot her 12 times. She died on the way to the hospital.

Her tireless work to seek justice for families in Mexico made her a target for the cartels. She was relentless in her pursuit of justice and openly talked about receiving death threats after some of the people she found escaped from prison.

Her death was a rallying cry for people across Mexico, and the world, to call for better protection for human rights activists.

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