The US Citizen Who Went Missing In Mexico After A Facebook Live Plea Has Been Found

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Immigration rights activist and US citizen Hugo Castro, who went missing in Mexico shortly after issuing a call for help on Facebook Live on Thursday, has been found.Enrique Morones, executive director for the Southern California-based non-profit Border Angels, for which Castro volunteers on behalf of immigrant rights, told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday that Castro had been found."Hugo is found and he’s in Mexico City. He’s with Gaba, his partner," Morones said, referring to Gabriela Cortes.Morones said that Castro was found with "some health issues" that are "serious, but not life-threatening."Morones had not yet spoken with Castro, but was in communication with his family and said they all hoped to bring him back home as soon as possible.Cortes first announced the news in a Facebook status Tuesday night, saying that Castro was in a delicate condition and that the investigation continued as to why he went missing.

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Castro was reported missing by his family on April 12, and he broadcasted a troubling video on social media the following day.Standing on the side of a busy Mexican highway on Thursday, Castro turned on his Facebook Live to beg for help, saying a group of criminals had been chasing him for days.“I seriously need help,” Castro said in Spanish. “My battery is going to die, I’m not going to move from here.”Border Angels said in a statement that Castro had disappeared somewhere between Mexico City and Puebla.

Gabriela Cortes Via facebook.com

In the video, Castro said he was at Kilometer 37 of the highway heading toward Puebla after joining a caravan following a group of Central American asylum seekers as they made their way to the US border.Castro said the group of criminals, which he did not specifically identify, had been following him for days in freight vehicles, passing him and waiting for him up ahead at various points. He then pointed his phone to a gas station coming up on the road, saying a group was waiting for him there.“I thought I was going to be smarter than them, they’re a very powerful group,” Castro said in the video.Morones said he had taken Castro to the border and had been in touch with him for a couple of days before he suddenly went radio silent.“I’m very worried about Hugo,” Morones told BuzzFeed News last week. “He did communicate with someone on Friday from a cab in Mexico City and that’s the last we heard of him.”On Sunday, Cortes wrote on Facebook that they had been able to file a formal complaint with the attorney general’s office in Mexico City.“We’re waiting to see if they can view security cameras the city uses,” she wrote.The attorney general’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

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