How grieving families honor missing loved ones at Christmas
For nearly a decade, Verónica Rosas has refused to set up a Christmas tree. The tradition stopped in 2015 when her 16-year-old son, Diego, vanished in a Mexico City suburb. Now, she and other families of the missing are finding small ways to remember their loved ones during the holidays.
Before Diego’s disappearance, he and his mother cherished picking out natural Christmas trees together. They decorated them with Mickey and Minnie Mouse figurines, a tradition that ended abruptly when he went missing. This year, Rosas joined an event hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Ecatepec, crafting ornaments in memory of Diego and others who have vanished.
The holiday season brings painful reminders for families like Rosas’s and Palmeros’s. Events like the ornament-making workshop offer small moments of remembrance amid a crisis that has left thousands without answers. For now, their search for truth—and for their missing loved ones—continues.
