it's been three and half years since juana last heard from her daughter, brenda damaris - here it says i'm still alive.... find me it was late on a summer night when she called to say she'd been in a car accident just outside the city of monterrey. the family told us that as they were talking to her they heard a local policeman tell her to turn off her cell phone. since damaris went missing no one has been prosecuted for her disappearance, leaving juana and the family to continue searching by themselves. this is the case across mexico families left waiting...not knowing if their loved ones are alive...or if they're dead. kidnappings are a source of income for cartels it's a way for them to extort civilians - but also to force people to work for them. with little help from officials, families of the disappeared across mexico have organized networks to support each other and try and help advance each other's cases. with so few meaningful investigations one of the most important questions - why was this person taken - is rarely, if ever, answered. federico mastrogiovanni is a journalist w

officials told her the remains were that of her daughter - brenda damaris.she was 25 when she went missing. juana says she became suspicious after officials suggested that she cremate the bones immediately. the remains lie in a grave marked by a cross with no name. the results won't be known for months. the remains will be compared to dna samples from the family. but resolving these cases through mexico's justice system is rare. and human rights activists we spoke to believe change can only come from outside pressure. >> international pressure is very hard to obtain in a country like mexico that is having an open arms policy towards the most powerful private sector oligopolies in the world. from europe, the us canada mining companies oil companies - so you don't see that international pressure. the most powerful enterprises in the world are doing great in mexico. so there is a conflict of interest there is an international complicity that explains why mexico is not moving forward. >> the road that leads from monterrey to juana's home is lined with factories