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Fourteen years ago, a bloody killing spree began in the Mexican border city of Juárez. Young, family oriented, bright women were being attacked, beaten, killed and buried in the deserts surrounding the city. Amnesty International states that as of 2006, over 400 bodies have been found. Emmy award winning Univision journalist, Teresa Rodriguez, began the daunting task of investigating the bloody Juárez murders ten years ago. From incredibly sloppy police work including misidentified victims and the arrest of innocent people, what she found is haunting, heartbreaking and quite unbelievable in “The Daughters of Juárez”.

What was your first introduction to the murders?

The whole thing came about after my first trip there when I went to do a story for “Aquí y Ahora”. I started researching this in ’98 and I made a trip out there for a story that actually aired in March of ’99, the first series of reports. We shot about 50 tapes worth, more than I ever thought we would shoot because we had so many people to talk to, so much to shoot.

When you first began your investigations, how did you feel about everything?

What first got to me was the sheer numbers. I mean, there were a little over 200 women back then in late ’98 and I was shocked because here in the states when someone is missing there’s an Amber Alert issued. You see the person’s face on the news, in the papers, on milk cartons, on flyers in the mail and you say ‘Wow, how can this be happening in a city five minutes from our border?’ Then, how gruesome these crimes were and when I actually went down there and got even more information that wasn’t readily available, because when we started to investigate this stuff it was more through the wire services, looking up articles, things like that. I can tell you, at that point, I was in shock.

What reception did you get from the victim’s families?

They wanted the stories of their daughters to get out. They wanted answers. They wanted to know why. They wanted justice and they wanted someone to at least listen to their stories because unfortunately many times what they found was indifference and injustice when they turned to the authorities. Some of them were so grateful and what’s very sad, for me as a journalist, you have to make them relive the moment…When was the last time you saw her? Where was she going? What was she wearing? It’s very painful but it’s something you had to do as a journalist. At the same time to see their eyes well up with tears again and to see them clutching their hands and then to bring you into a room and show you a picture…That was the toughest. Having people relive those last moments. I remember they were so poor that the one thing that got to me was the plastic flowers. They were so poor they couldn’t even buy real flowers. So you’d go to the cemetery and see all these plastic flowers. It was very, very sad.

Law enforcement has been greatly criticized, deservedly so, for mishandling these horrific murders since the beginning. What do they have to say?

It always seemed to be the passing of the buck, where they always blamed it on the previous administration and shoddy record keeping. It was always ‘They didn’t know what they were doing. We know what we’re doing.’ A lot of it wasn’t just that they were inept. I think they just were understaffed and careless.

Were you ever threatened during your investigation?

The only time I felt a little anxious, a little scared, was the last trip we made as a crew to Juárez where we actually slept in Juárez, February 14th. That was a few years ago. We had so many interviews that day; we ended up interviewing them at the hotel. When we wrapped up everything, about 11:30 [pm] or something, I put on my pajamas, went to bed and my phone rings in my room. I pick it up; heavy breathing. I hung up. Five minutes later it rings again; heavy breathing. At this point I got a little nervous. I called my cameraman and said ‘Get over here with your camera ASAP’. I called my producer and said ‘I’m getting these weird phone calls. We’re going downstairs and we’re all going to talk to the front desk manager’. We went down and I said ‘I’m getting these phone calls in my room and I don’t want you to transfer any phone calls to me’. He said ‘I’m not transferring phone calls. You haven’t had any calls that have come in from the outside.’ I said ‘You mean to tell me whatever calls I’m getting, I’m getting from within the hotel’? He said ‘Yes, you are. But then again, you know the story you’re covering, right? It’s a very delicate topic you’re covering.’

Frightening…So what are your personal thoughts on why and how this is all happening?

The majority of the women were poor. The perpetrators obviously knew the women’s families didn’t have the money to hire private investigators or attorneys. They knew that these were people were easy prey because many times they were out at odd hours of the day or evening, walking to and from work. A lot has to do with the machismo society that exists in Mexico, especially in Juárez where for the first time you had women working, so there was sort of a resentment. It became a blood sport. Women were getting killed, the authorities say the killers are behind bars and the murders keep happening. As an activist said, life has no value, especially if you’re poor.

Pick up a copy of “The Daughters of Juárez” and make a difference by becoming informed and involved.