Lorenza Cano Flores

Lorenza Cano Flores is a woman human rights defender and member of the Salamanca United in the Search for the Disappeared. She joined this collective after her brother, José Cano Flores, disappeared on 17 August 2018. To this day, more than 260 families are part of this volunteer search group, looking for any clues that can lead them to the location and fate of their disappeared relatives.

Volunteer searchers in Mexico continue the search for their loved ones given the lack of effective investigation or response from the authorities. This leads to a high risk situation due to the presence of criminal groups responsible for the violence in the region -including the disappearances- who threaten and attack whoever tries to look for the truth and locate the disappeared.

In this context, on 15 January 2024, a group of armed men broke into the home of Lorenza, shot dead her husband and son, and deprived her of her liberty. Almost two months after her disappearance, what happened to Lorenza is still unknown.

In response to this, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances of the United Nations has issued an urgent action in the case of Lorenza Cano, requesting the State of Mexico to take immediate measures in the search of Lorenza Cano, as well as for the protection of her family and members of the Salamanca United in the Search for the Disappeared.

The forced disappearance of Lorenza highlights the crisis of disappearances in Mexico that the government has failed to adequately address. In this day, Front Line Defenders wants to highlight the work of women who search for their loved ones in a high risk environment, and urges the State to immediately locate and safeguard the integrity of human rights defender Lorenza Cano, and to protect and ensure the respect of human rights of women searchers in the country.