Patricia Negrete Tafoya—who had been searching for her missing sister, Laura Angélica Negrete, since 2021—was murdered on Wednesday night in the municipality of Pénjamo, southwestern Guanajuato, as she was leaving her job as a cleaner at the local regional hospital.
Witness accounts and local media reports indicate that Negrete had finished her shift and was riding her motorcycle home when men on another motorcycle approached, shot her multiple times, and fled the scene. This targeted attack comes just days after at least ten other people were killed in the same state during armed attacks in the municipalities of Salamanca, San Luis de la Paz, Pénjamo, and León.
The search collective *Una Promesa por Cumplir* (A Promise to Keep) confirmed that Negrete Tafoya was a member of their group but declined to make further statements, citing the violence plaguing the state and the fact that groups like theirs have been specifically targeted in recent months. She had been searching for her sister, Laura Angélica, who disappeared on January 5, 2021, in the same municipality of Pénjamo.
Posts regarding the search reveal that Laura disappeared leaving behind three children and a mother suffering from cancer. According to local media reports, Laura’s partner had been shot dead by unknown assailants in 2019 while riding his bicycle home along the highway.
