Forensic DNA testing has confirmed that human remains discovered near the Francisco Zarco delegation in Valle de Guadalupe belong to Ángel Torres García, a man who had been missing since August 24, 2024. The Jeral Ensenada Collective, a family-led search group, announced the positive identification on Tuesday.
The remains were found on April 14, 2026, nearly 20 months after Torres García disappeared. His mother was the person who first located the site. She is the sister of the Jeral Collective’s leader, connecting this case directly to the group’s mission of finding missing loved ones.
State Forensic Experts Confirmed the Match
Forensic specialists from the Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), Baja California’s state attorney general’s office, conducted the DNA comparison that produced the positive identification. The confirmation brings a measure of closure to the family, though questions about the circumstances of Torres García’s death remain unanswered.
Francisco Zarco is one of the administrative delegations within Valle de Guadalupe, the agricultural valley located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of central Ensenada. The area is best known internationally as Baja California’s primary wine-producing region, home to an estimated 70% of Mexico’s wine production and dozens of restaurants and tasting rooms.
Search Collectives Fill a Gap in Official Investigations
The Jeral Collective is one of several citizen-led search groups operating across Baja California. These organizations, typically founded by families of the disappeared, conduct independent field searches for clandestine graves and human remains. They often step in when official state investigations stall or produce no results.
Baja California has recorded thousands of missing persons cases in recent years. Family search collectives have become a critical force in locating remains, sometimes prompting authorities to open or reactivate investigations. In this case, the family’s own search led to the discovery, with the FGE’s forensic lab providing the scientific confirmation months later.
The case of Ángel Torres García is one of many that collectives in the Ensenada region have pursued. While the FGE has the technical capacity to perform DNA identifications, the initial discovery of remains frequently depends on volunteer searchers working without government resources.
Originally reported by Ensenada.net.