Hope Keeps Us Alive: The Honduran Mothers Who Came Together to Search for Their Missing Migrant Children

Arnold disappeared nearly eight years ago. His mother, Otilia, recalls that his last phone call to her in late January 2015 was from Mexico. Arnold wanted to let his parents know that he intended to cross the border into the United States of America. His wife and two children were already there, and he was desperate to join them.

A month later, Otilia learned that the motorcycle Arnold was driving had been located in a junkyard in Mexico, with gunshot holes. Arnold has never been heard from since. Heartbroken, his parents began their search to find him, and they continue to wait for news on Arnold’s fate.

According to data from the Missing Migrants Project run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there have been 6,941 reported migrant deaths or disappearances in the Americas since 2014. The project has recorded more than 350 incidents involving Hondurans, with most of the reports occurring along the border between Mexico and the United States, as in the case of Otilia’s son, Arnold.