A Mexican police reporter and her son went missing the early morning of June 8, reported the newspaper Milenio.
Stephania Cardoso, reporter for the newspaper Zócalo of the city of Saltillo, in northern Mexico, was last seen with her 2-year-old son at a party celebrating the Mexican day of Freedom of Expression on Thursday, June 7, according to the newspaper El Universal. The reporter left the party at 2 a.m. and told her friends that she had arrived at her house safely.
On Friday, June 8, Cardoso did not show up for work and her family members did not know her whereabouts nor those of her son. Her family members said that her house was unorganized, her camera was destroyed, and her car was missing, according to Reforma.
The Attorney General's Office is investigating the case while the governor of the border state of Coahuila asked the state prosecutor to investigate the reporter's disappearance, according to the newspaper Zócalo of Saltillo.
Before her disappearance, the journalist published stories about operations to track down stolen cars, as well as articles on traffic accidents and commercial theft, according to El Tribuno.
The newspaper Zócalo of Saltillo suffered the kidnapping and killing of reporter Valentín Valdés in January, 2010, according to the newspaper El Siglo de Torreón, which is also published in the state of Coahuila.
Mexico is the most dangerous country for the press in the Americas. Fourteen journalists went missing and 100 reporters, family members, and news media employees have been killed since 2000, according to reports by journalistic organizations. For more information, see this map about attacks against the Mexican press made by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
