SAN DIEGO (AP) — The body of a San Diego youth who was kidnapped in Tijuana, Mexico, about two years ago has been recovered, his mother said.
News of the recovery of the body of Miguel Anthony Rendon, who was 19 at the time of his disappearance, came from the FBI a few weeks ago, said his mother, Emma Carolina Medrano Gallardo, who lives in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego.
“At that moment I felt that I lost hope, but it was also like a relief, finally. I will have him back and I will know where he is,” Medrano, who led many searches for his son, told the KGTV television channel.
His son’s body was transferred from Tijuana to San Diego this month, reported Telemundo 20. Thousands of unsolved disappearances have occurred in Mexico.
Medrano’s nightmare began in May 2020 when she lived in Tijuana and her son crossed the border to visit his girlfriend and also to arrive unexpectedly with his mother.
Medrano received a phone call during the early hours of the morning.
“In Spanish, they told me, ‘Ma’am, we have your son. We demand this amount of money,'” Medrano told KGTV.
The kidnapping was confirmed through a subsequent video call.
“My heart almost stopped,” Medrano added. “He was tied up and his face was bloody. He could barely speak.”
Medrano’s ex-husband made a payment at the border for her release, and she was told to wait for her son elsewhere.
A fruitless six-hour wait for her son turned into months of waiting for a phone call that never came. She remembers him smiling, happy and full of goals.
“Let’s hope there is justice so they don’t do this to anyone else or to other children,” Medrano said.
A GoFundMe page has been created to raise funds for Rendon’s funeral.
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