When the Buscadoras de la Frontera de Nogales received a call from a family in Nogales, Arizona, offering to donate their dog Bongo to the group, leader Carlos Arenas said they didn’t think twice.
Usually the group has only picks, shovels and anonymous tips to help them in their efforts to find the disappeared, he said. Now, they have Bongo’s nose and training.
During his first search Thursday morning, Bongo helped locate two clandestine graves and four bodies.
The collective, which Arenas formed in late 2020 in part to search for his own missing sister, has located 56 remains in just over a year.
It’s one of dozens of groups across the country working to find the nearly 100,000 people the government says have been reporting missing. But Arenas believes theirs is the first with a searcher dog.
Already, members of the community in Nogales have stepped up to offer veterinary care, shelter, food and other supplies for Bongo.
Arenas said the group is also always looking for donations of water, tools and other supplies to help the collective with their searches.
