Baja California Sur’s specialized missing persons prosecutor announced on March 18 that authorities have located 64 of 110 people reported missing since January 1, a 58% recovery rate for the first 11 weeks of 2026. Prosecutor Flor Leticia Peña Martínez said 45 cases remain open with active search operations underway across the state.
La Paz Leads State in Missing Persons Reports
Of the 64 people found, most were not victims of crime. One person was located deceased. Peña Martínez said each case receives equal priority regardless of circumstances, and she urged the public to submit anonymous tips to aid ongoing investigations.
La Paz, the state capital, accounts for the largest share of missing persons reports in Baja California Sur. In January alone, 19 of the state’s 32 disappearance reports came from the La Paz municipality, according to data from Mexico’s National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons (RNPDNO). Comondú logged six cases that month, Los Cabos five, and Mulegé and Loreto each recorded one.
2026 Numbers Show Increase Over Last Year
The 2026 figures represent a sharp increase from the same period in 2025. By the end of January and February last year, nine people remained classified as missing statewide. In the same two months of 2026, that number had risen to 30, according to RNPDNO records. The total number of reports has also grown, though the state’s resolution rate has stayed above 50%.
The prosecutor’s office has expanded its reach in recent years. Specialized missing persons units now operate in remote municipalities including Comondú, a farming region about 400 miles north of La Paz on the Transpeninsular Highway, and Mulegé, a desert community roughly 300 miles south of the U.S. border.
Baja California Sur also activates the Protocolo Alba for missing women and girls. In January 2026, the state attorney general’s office (PGJE) triggered 16 Protocolo Alba alerts statewide. Three of those remained active at month’s end.
Peña Martínez said search operations will continue for all 45 open cases, and she asked residents to contact her office with any information. The next scheduled update on statewide missing persons figures is expected in April, according to BCS Noticias.