Businessman’s twins disappear in Guadalajara. Seven years later, a guard finds this. Miguel Herrera was walking through the vacant lot of the industrial park when his foot struck something metallic. It was his second week as a security guard at the Guadalajara business complex. The object gleamed in the midday sun. He bent down and unearthed a gold-plated plaque with the initials “deb” engraved on it. “What’s this?” Miguel murmured, wiping the dirt off with his shirt. The plaque was shaped like a sports medal.
On the back it said Rodrigo Vázquez, 2016 state swimming champion. Miguel frowned. That name sounded familiar. He walked to the security booth and turned on his computer. He Googled “Rodrigo Vázquez Guadalajara missing.” The results made him pale. Newspaper articles from seven years ago filled the screen. Businessman’s twins mysteriously disappear. Mass search for the Vázquez brothers. Unsolved case shocks Guadalajara. Miguel read the details. Diego and Rodrigo Vázquez, 16-year-old twins, sons of businessman Antonio Vázquez, owner of Vázquez Construction, had disappeared on March 15, 2017.
They left their home in Las Águilas to go to swimming practice at the sports club. They never arrived. The search had lasted for months. The police, the army, volunteer groups, private investigators—nothing, as if the earth had swallowed them whole. The case was closed as an unsolved disappearance. Miguel picked up his phone and dialed the local police. “Detective Carlos Mendoza, how can I help you, Detective?” “This is Miguel Herrera, a security guard at the industrial complex on López Mateos Avenue.”
I found something that might be related to an old case. What kind of thing? A swimming medal belonging to Rodrigo Vázquez, one of the twins who disappeared seven years ago. The silence stretched for several seconds. Where exactly did you find it? In the vacant lot behind the Salinas Añas Asociados office building. Don’t touch anything else. I’m coming over. Miguel hung up and put the medal in a plastic bag. He went to the exact spot where he had found it and marked the area with traffic cones.
Thirty minutes later, Detective Mendoza arrived, a 45-year-old man with a gray mustache and a stern expression. He was accompanied by a forensic technician. “Are you Herrera?” “Yes, sir. The medal is here.” Mendoza examined the bag without opening it. “How long have you been working here?” “Two weeks.” “Have you noticed anything else unusual?” “No, sir. I only walk through here every two hours. This lot has been abandoned for as long as I can remember.” The forensic technician began searching the area with a metal detector. After a few minutes, the device beeped.
“Detective, is there anything else here?” They dug carefully and found a silver chain with an identical medallion, but with the initials RV and the name Diego Vázquez. “Two medallions,” Mendoza murmured. “One for each twin.” Miguel approached. “Do you think they’re buried here? It’s possible. We’re going to need a full excavation team.” Mendoza picked up his radio. “Central, I need a full forensic team at my location. Possible crime scene related to the 2017 Vázquez case.” While they waited for backup, Mendoza questioned Miguel about the details of the find.
What time does he make his rounds? Every two hours, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. What businesses operate in this complex? Mainly offices. Salinas Without Associates is the largest. There’s also a law firm, an accounting firm, and some import companies. Salinas Without Associates. Germán Salinas. Yes, that’s the owner. Mendoza wrote the name down in his notebook. He remembered that Germán Salinas had been a business partner of Antonio Vázquez, the father of the missing twins.
At 4 p.m., the entire forensic team arrived. They began a systematic excavation of the area. At a depth of one and a half meters, they found remnants of clothing: jeans, sneakers, and swim club t-shirts. “Detective!” one of the technicians shouted, “I found something important!” At the bottom of the excavation were two school backpacks, one blue, the other red. The names were written on them with a marker: Diego Vázquez, Cervantes High School, and Rodrigo Vázquez, Cervantes High School. Mendoza approached the edge of the excavation.
Are there human remains? We haven’t found any bones, only personal belongings. Keep digging. Expand the perimeter. Miguel watched from a safe distance. The magnitude of the discovery overwhelmed him. After seven years, he had stumbled upon the first real clue about the fate of the Vázquez brothers. Mendoza took out his phone. I need Elena Vázquez’s phone number. Elena Vázquez, the twins’ older sister, had been the public face of the search for years. She organized marches, distributed flyers, offered rewards, and worked as a journalist for the local newspaper, El Occidental.