The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo

Good afternoon, my name is Marisela Escobedo Ortiz.

I'm Rubí Marisol Fraire Escobedo's mother.

I'm no longer afraid of anything.

I'm no longer afraid of death, which is the worst that could happen to me.

I've faced the authorities, I've faced the governor,

I've faced anyone and everyone I've come across.

Wherever my daughter may be,

I want her to know that I love her,

and that I'll never rest until she gets justice.

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY

I wouldn't wish my wail of pain on anyone else.

Ciudad Juárez has been named the world's most dangerous city.

Being a woman in this city seems to carry a death sentence.

My daughter is gone now,

but I'm here to speak for her and defend her rights.

MURDERER MAXIMUM SENTENCE

WE DEMAND JUSTICE

Thousands across the country have joined her search.

He'll never sleep peacefully.

Even if it takes me a lifetime, I'm going to find him.

The men who are used to inflicting violence on women

will learn that sentences aren't only written on paper.

REWARD $250,000

My name is Juan Manuel Fraire Escobedo.

I'm 42 years old.

I'm from Ciudad Juárez.

MARISELA ESCOBEDO'S SON

I'm the son of Marisela Escobedo.

We were seven in my family.

My mom, my dad, Rubí, Pablo, Jessica, Alejandro, and myself.

From youngest to oldest.

Why don't you say a few words for your son?

I'm very happy, God bless him, and I wish him every joy.

That's it, don't get crazy.

Our family was very close.

If I had to go to work, my oldest daughter would cook,

and the boys would look after their sisters,

because I worked nights as a nurse.

I love all my siblings,

but Rubí was the youngest, she was the baby of the house.

I took her everywhere with me, because both my parents worked.

MARISELA ESCOBEDO'S SON

Rubí was very happy-go-lucky.

She was the youngest, so we used to sing songs for her.

We kept singing as she got older, just to annoy her.

She was wholesome, smart,

beautiful in my eyes and the eyes of many others.

And then, you know, she hit puberty.

My mom had just opened a woodshop and furniture store.

MONGE WOODS AND MATERIALS

So, this guy showed up one day looking for a job.

He had a wife and a daughter, and he needed to work.

My mom told him that she wasn't hiring,

but she wanted to help him, so she let him work for the day.

So, he stayed to work.

That guy was Sergio.

My nieces were studying over in El Paso.

MARISELA'S SISTER

But one summer, Rubí moved back with my sister in Ciudad Juárez.

My daughter used to go everywhere with me.

She'd hang out sometimes at the furniture store.

That's how she met this man, Sergio Rafael Barraza.

At the time, Sergio must've been eight or nine years older than her.

He was 20 or 21 years old, while Rubí was only 13.

I objected to the relationship.

I consulted an attorney,

but I knew she'd never sign any kind of affidavit against him.

Eventually, he took her to live with him.

He made her stay in the apartment all day long,

therefore isolating her from the rest of the family.

I balked at the fear that my daughter would hate me

if I came between her and the man she loved.

At that point, I decided not to get involved,

but we agreed that her siblings would keep in contact with her.

I always got along with him and tried to be his friend.

We wanted better for our sister, but she'd chosen him.

You have to stay out of other people's lives.

Sometime later, Rubí got pregnant. One or two years later.

Her pregnancy connected her with my mom again.

The girl was born,

but this guy was unemployed, it was clear he was struggling.

So my mom helped them out.

She started to drop by the house and leave long after dark.

I figured they probably had some money problems,

because she made sure she ate every meal at my place.

Every night, I'd give her money, maybe 50 or 80 pesos.

I immediately lent them an apartment I used for storage.

I cleared it out and told them they could stay there.

Apparently, everything was fine.

One day, I went to the apartment where they were staying…

and they were gone.

My mom went looking for her at Sergio's mother's place.

We went to the house,

and found Sergio there with their daughter.

But Rubí wasn't there.

Alarm bells went off right there. Rubí would never leave her kid.

Sergio came to the door, I asked him about my daughter,

and he said she had left with some other guy.

No way she would've left with a guy, so I asked him for a name.

He wouldn't tell us.

We weren't getting anywhere, so we decided to leave.

We came back the next day,

and Sergio wasn't there. He was gone.

I had a really bad feeling.

Something wasn't right.

DECEMBER 2008

Being her mother, I immediately started to search for her.

Red flags were going up. Something had happened to her.

These are all connected to organized crime.

President Felipe Calderón claims Mexico isn't a failed state,

despite the drug cartels' growing power.

Officers from Chihuahua's General Prosecutors' office

conducted raids on bars and cafeterias in Ciudad Juárez.

Three men were arrested on charges of human trafficking,

who forced women…

Juárez has a big problem with missing women.

So, that was very much a possibility.

HOTEL

When we started searching for Rubí,

we spent many nights scouting the bars downtown,

all the brothels.

We found girls as young as 14, 15, 16 working at those places…

as prostitutes.

We searched everywhere.

At times, we ended up in really dangerous places.

I was hoping to find her.

I wanted to find her in one of those places.

But there was no sign of her.

It took my mom a month and a half to be able to file a police report.

The cops insisted she had left.

They said there were no signs of foul play.

I was under constant stress. The whole thing was an ordeal.

STATE INVESTIGATION AGENCY MISSING PERSONS UNIT

I started all of if by myself, the searches and inquiries.

I had to stumble, struggle, and jump through hoops,

just to be able to file a missing person report.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF STATE OF CHIHUAHUA NORTH AREA

I spoke with the relatives, I'll talk to you later.

-Will you give an interview? -Yes, sure.

I served as District Attorney for the state of Chihuahua

from 2004 to 2010.

We had a missing persons unit…

CHIHUAHUA DISTRICT ATTORNEY - (2004-2010)

…so we opened an investigation to try to find Rubí.

At the beginning of February, there was an initiative

to circulate flyers with photos of the missing women at the time.

SAFE CORRIDOR FOR WOMEN

REWARD $1,500,000

My family and I heard about it and decided to join them.

We brought our own flyers, dispersed, and handed them out.

HELP US FIND HER

We went to the 16 de Septiembre neighborhood,

where Sergio Rafael Barraza lived,

and offered a reward to anyone who had any information

about Rubí's disappearance.

I would tell my mom, "Someone will speak up."

"If something happened, someone will speak up."

One day, we got a call from a young man,

saying that he had information about what had happened to Rubí.

This young man was from Sergio's neighborhood.

He called my mom and asked her if they could meet in person,

because he had to give her some important information.

We were afraid to meet him, thinking it could be dangerous

because of the reward we were offering.

He got in the truck, scared out of his mind,

and told us to drive away.

He asked if I was Rubí's mom, and I said yes.

His jaw was trembling, that's how nervous he was.

He said, "What I have to say is really awful."

Then, he started talking.

He was with a group of friends

hanging out in the neighborhood.

Sergio Rafael showed up, looking agitated.

He wanted someone to help him haul some furniture.

He said that Sergio's brother, Andy Alonso Barraza Bocanegra,

and some other guy went to help him.

Hours later, Sergio's brother returned and told everyone…

"My brother," he said. "He killed his girlfriend, Rubí."

Sergio Rafael came back soon after,

so the guys asked him if it was true.

"Yeah," he said, "I killed her."

"We dumped her body at the landfill."

"I put her in a garbage drum,

and I burned her."

I asked the boy why he was telling me all this.

He explained that his sister had been murdered,

so his mom urged him to be brave and speak up.

My mom gathered all of us,

and she told us the news with tears in her eyes.

It was a rude awakening.

We finally knew what happened, but now we had to find proof.

He was reluctant, but my mom talked him into giving a statement.

She got him to testify.

When he finally agreed to do it, things started moving.

A case was formally opened, and agents were assigned.

It wasn't until this happened that they took it seriously

and finally started to search for my daughter's body.

I kept breathing down their necks

because I was sure that without me there, no one would do anything for her.

With this new information, they did a formal search