Freed 12-Year-Old Sent Home With a Message: Hand Over Your Land and La Familia Michoacana Will Release 7 Kidnapped Villagers, El Balcón, Guerrero, Residents Say
Gunmen that residents identify as members of La Familia Michoacana have freed a 12-year-old boy they kidnapped from the El Balcón ejido, in the sierra of Ajuchitlán del Progreso, Guerrero, and used him as a messenger, Proceso reported on Oct. 3, 2026, citing ejido members. According to them, the message was that the group will free the 7 villagers it still holds only if the community hands over its land.
Taken on the way to the fields
Armed men seized eight people on the morning of Sept. 24 as they headed out to farm and herd cattle, Proceso and El Universal reported. Residents say the captives include a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old. Proceso said the boy was freed on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 1. He walked for about three hours through the mountains until he met an army convoy, and soldiers wearing hoods returned him to his family.
An organizer told El Universal that the ejido had let the Familia Michoacana cross one edge of its land. That deal broke down, the organizer said, when the group attacked the people living on that edge and demanded the whole ejido. Proceso’s source said the group also wants the mountain route linking the Tierra Caliente region to the Costa Grande coast. La Silla Rota reported that villagers say the group is after their forests. The residents say they will not give up their land. No authority has publicly confirmed which group is responsible.
Thousands march as the search continues
On Friday, Oct. 2, residents of Tecpan de Galeana, Petatlán, Coyuca de Catalán, Ajuchitlán and nearby towns marched along the Acapulco–Zihuatanejo highway. El Universal counted more than 2,000 people; the ejido put the figure at more than 4,000, Infobae reported. “A 12-year-old boy, what could he have done?” asked Juan Atanacio Orozco, the boy’s father and the son of the oldest captive, before collapsing in tears.
Guerrero’s state security agency said state police, the army and the National Guard are searching the roads linking Las Piñas, Puerto Grande and La Lajita. On Oct. 4, the ejido warned that it will “paralyze the region” if the captives are not found, Infobae reported. Undersecretary for political and social development Francisco Rodríguez Cisneros said in Acapulco on Oct. 2 that there had been progress in the case, without giving details, Proceso reported.
Sources
- Proceso, “La Familia Michoacana libera a niño en Ajuchitlán; dejarán ir a otras siete personas a cambio de sus tierras,” Oct. 3, 2026
- El Universal, “Más de 2 mil pobladores de Guerrero exigen la liberación de 7 personas,” Oct. 2, 2026
- La Silla Rota, “Exigen a pueblo de Guerrero entregar sus bosques para liberar a 7,” Oct. 3, 2026
- Infobae México, “Pobladores de Ajuchitlán advierten movilizaciones si no son localizados los 8 hombres ‘levantados’,” Oct. 4, 2026
- Photos: Arturo de Dios Palma, El Universal; Claudio Vargas, La Silla Rota
Reported Oct. 4, 2026, from the outlets above. The link to La Familia Michoacana and the land demand come from residents and ejido members; authorities have not publicly named a suspect group, and no arrests have been reported.