Lessons to find family in Mexico from mother who found her kids through Facebook

If you haven’t read the story already, the title says it all: “Mother finds kidnapped kids through Facebook.” Over 15 years ago, a woman’s husband took her two small children and disappeared. While using Facebook, she was able to locate her daughter, which led to her recovering her family.  

Here are some lessons you can take from her situation as you try to find family in Mexico, or start your Mexico genealogy:

• The woman had investigators searching for her husband and the children. Someone was taking action. Someone was checking records.
• She knew the full names of her children and their relatives. She had documents on them, including their birth and medical records.
• She didn’t give up. She continued to look for her children. She tried new ideas such as going on the social media site, Facebook.

Here are some things to keep in mind when you want to find family or a person in Mexico:

• You probably want to find someone in Mexico sooner than later. Many want to find someone right now. This woman spent over ten years looking for her children before she found her daughter on Facebook. There are many steps you can take to find people in Mexico.
• She didn’t find her children by herself. Even after she found her daughter on Facebook, she had to get the district attorney and the police to actually track down where her daughter is now living. You may get to a point where you need an expert to step in to finally put you in touch with your family in Mexico.
• Even with the help of all the resources the police could bring to a kidnapping case, they couldn’t find the children because they didn’t know where to look. You must know at least the state where the person you want to find in Mexico is or was living. If you don’t know this, then your chance of ever finding them is almost impossible.
• The article stresses that this all happened because of the existence and popularity of Facebook, something that did not exist a few years ago. One thing you should keep in mind is that far fewer Mexicans are online than Americans. Over 90% of Mexicans do not have a listing or presence online including having a profile on a social networking site. The majority of Mexican who do have profiles online are government officials, celebrities or business people.
• Far fewer Mexicans have access to computers than we do in the U.S. It’s not uncommon for there to be two or more computers in many U.S. homes. There are desktops, notepads, laptops, BlackBerrys, etc. There is often not even one computer in a Mexican home. For Mexican homes that have computers, they are often a tool for business or homework only and not for spending several hours a day online chatting on social networks.

The Internet can be an excellent tool to use to find someone in Mexico. You should spend time online to search for family or friends in Mexico. However, keep in mind the limitations of the Internet. If you have searched online for more than a month to find a person in Mexico and been unable to locate them, then it’s time to take other action.

It may be time to bring in an expert who can review your information to be sure it’s accurate. An expert can also take your information to locate records to find that special person in Mexico. This woman found her family, but she didn’t do it alone. You, too, can find your family or friend in Mexico and with the right help, you will probably find them much sooner than having to wait ten years. That’s news that we can all be happy about.

Saludos,


Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Leading expert and international authority 
    on finding relatives living in Mexico

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