VA VA - Culpeper, 10 Hispanic teens 13-17, Jul'21 - Feb'22

[Goecke]

Here’s the problem with that theory, Culpeper is a rural town. 22 hispanic woman are currently missing in the ENTIRE state of VA. 1/3 of those are from Culpeper which can’t be the only town where immigrants and sponsors are located. These numbers don’t number well.

I 100% agree. Something is happening in Culpeper in particular. The numbers are just too high for this to all be attributed to kids running away, joining gangs etc.
My personal theory, all IMO, is that human trafficking (specifically labor trafficking) is going on, and these children are being targeted. The opportunity to work in another state and make good money would sound great to a teenager with who immigrated to another country without their parents. Immigrants are commonly targeted for trafficking, since it's common for traffickers to hold/control their visas and threaten to send them back to their country of origin if they don't comply. It seems like they're most commonly targeted for agriculture jobs. Here's an article that goes into it well: https://polarisproject.org/wp-conte...ing-and-Exploitation-in-the-United-States.pdf

 

[Goecke]

I also wish we knew what happened to the kids who have presumably been found/are no longer in NamUs. I understand why the authorities are being tight lipped, since there are minors involved and I assume they are still alive so their privacy needs to be protected. This is even more important if they were found to be victims of trafficking (or any other crime). But I hope LE is looking into the circumstances and hopefully using that to try and locate the other kids, not closing the cases immediately as soon as they're confirmed to no longer be missing. For all I know they could be calling their sponsors/relatives, telling them they're okay and are working in another state (or something along those lines), and then the cases get closed.

 

[Goecke]

Currently missing children as of today:
Everado Lopez Juarez, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Ingrid Pana Gualna, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Edwin Morales Velasquez, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Alexander Perez Mendez, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Juan Ical Pop, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Nelson Chub Tzi, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Fredy Rax Quib, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Wilson Ba Bac, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Luis Choc Yaxcal, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Jose Cho Sacul, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Esdras Sun Pop, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Candelaria Caal Coc, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Horlandina Perez Lopez, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Jonathan Perez Lopez, 10 months https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/102302?nav
Lorena Gabriel Jimenez, 15 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/97978?nav
Fredy Sacul Che, 16 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/98822?nav
Griselda Choc Choc, 16 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/102335?nav
Yeni Caal Coc, 15 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/103431?nav
Cesar Tiul Coc, 16 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/102986?nav
Karla Ical Ical, 17 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/108527?nav
Lester Acte Caal, 16 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/108526?nav
Marvin Pablo Rafael, 13 https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/109683?nav

There's 22 currently missing. One in 2018, the rest at a steady pace between July 2021 and October 2023.

 

[Cryptic]

but the fact that they're all Hispanic, specifically Guatemalan, seems odd.

One can add another "specifically" to the chain:

Many have distinctly indigenous last names. Some of the remainder may also be indigenous as well, just with more Spanish influenced last names.

 

[mst]

How many were not reported because the people they were staying with were undocumented

 

[Stunned]

Currently missing children as of today:
Everado Lopez Juarez, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Ingrid Pana Gualna, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Edwin Morales Velasquez, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Alexander Perez Mendez, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Juan Ical Pop, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Nelson Chub Tzi, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Fredy Rax Quib, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Wilson Ba Bac, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Luis Choc Yaxcal, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Jose Cho Sacul, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Esdras Sun Pop, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Candelaria Caal Coc, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Horlandina Perez Lopez, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Jonathan Perez Lopez, 10 months The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Lorena Gabriel Jimenez, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Fredy Sacul Che, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Griselda Choc Choc, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Yeni Caal Coc, 15 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Cesar Tiul Coc, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Karla Ical Ical, 17 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Lester Acte Caal, 16 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Marvin Pablo Rafael, 13 The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

There's 22 currently missing. One in 2018, the rest at a steady pace between July 2021 and October 2023.

If those were American born and bred children from one community there would be an absolute uproar!

 

[Goecke]

One can add another "specifically" to the chain:

Many have distinctly indigenous last names. Some of the remainder may also be indigenous as well, just with more Spanish influenced last names.

Because of this I looked into languages in Guatemala and while Spanish is the official language and most commonly spoken in cities, it seems like indigenous Mayan languages are most common in rural areas. There's 22 Mayan languages, and an additional 2 non-Mayan indigenous languages.

Languages of Guatemala - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Language data for Guatemala - CLEAR Global

Find information about languages in Guatemala, thanks to our language data, including interactive and static language maps for Guatemala.

clearglobal.org

As the second source states, because of how demographic data works it's hard to tell if most indigenous language speakers are monolingual or if they also speak Spanish. It's already hard for Spanish-speaking immigrants in the US who speak little to no English, but Spanish is commonly spoken by enough people (and Spanish translators are available for medical and legal proceedings). If they spoke an indigenous language hardly spoken by anyone outside of Guatemala, they may be even more isolated and vulnerable.

 

[cnmccarthy]

Teens missing from culpeper

“I requested copies of any communications between the ACF's Office of Refugee Resettlement and local law enforcement regarding "unaccompanied minors who were placed in homes in the Culpeper, Virginia area and then reported missing in the last two years." What I received was 67 pages of repetitive email chains between an ACF field specialist; a field office juvenile coordinator with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE; and other local and federal authorities. The discussion centered around setting up two meetings last year on human trafficking and sex trafficking awareness, education, and outreach.”

This person has definitely done some good work researching this.

 

[Goecke]

Glad to see there's finally some more reporting on this- Especially such a detailed, well researched article! It seems like LE is aware that some of these kids may have left to work in dangerous and/or illegal situations.
The fact that some of the children have since turned 18 and are therefore free to work wherever they want stood out to me. Sure, they can legally work these jobs now, but couldn't their employers face consequences if they were hired as minors/child labour laws were broken?

Here's the article linked to discussing the larger issue of child labor among unaccompanied migrant children. It's paywalled, so I can't access it- If anyone who can view it can give me a 10% summary that would be wonderful! Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S.

 

[iulia]

Marvin Pablo Rafael is no longer listed on NamUs.

 

[Goecke]

I watched this documentary earlier today, and it specifically focuses on Guatemalan teens being victims of labor trafficking. Two main things I took away from it:
1) The sponsors are involved with the traffickers in some cases- Genuinely not something I thought about. It seems less likely in these cases if the sponsor is the one reporting the child missing, but it's still something to be aware of.
2) Survivors and their families are INCREDIBLY hesitant to speak out. In the case the documentary focused on, the main people involved in the trafficking were all caught and had served time/were still in jail. The survivors are now legally allowed to stay in the US under special visas for trafficking victims. Not a single one of them was willing to talk. If they were still too scared, the children currently being trafficked must be absolutely terrified, so it wouldn't surprise me if they never tried to tell anyone or escape.

 

[Goecke]

Also of note, a Guatemalan immigrant boy died last year while illegally working at a poultry plant.

U.S. Faults Mississippi Poultry Plant in Death of 16-Year-Old

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Mar-Jac Poultry with 17 violations in the death of a teenager who was caught in a machine. It faces more than $200,000 in fines.

www.nytimes.com

The details of his death are absolutely horriffic. No sources definitevely state he was a trafficking victim, but given that he was hired by the poultry plant through a contractor, that's a red flag for me...

 

[Goecke]

16-year-old Selena Bravo Diaz went missing in February 2024. Very little info on her disappearance; NamUs just says "unknown location". The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)