Five Musicians from Grupo Fugitivo, One Dream, and a Night That Ended in Silence on the Borderlands of Reynosa
The Tamaulipas State Commission for the Search of Missing Persons has issued search notices to help locate the five members of Grupo Fugitivo, who have been missing since May 25.
Five members of Grupo Fugitivo, a popular norteño music group in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, disappeared just hours after posting on social media about their dream to “cross the border” and perform in the United States.
Most of the missing musicians are young men between 20 and 23 years old, according to the official search notices released by the Tamaulipas commission. Their families and local advocacy groups are currently searching for the missing Mexican musicians.
“The immediate search operation has begun to locate the members of Grupo Fugitivo, with their families present and in coordination with the Tamaulipas State Search Commission and the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office,” said the advocacy group Desaparecidos en Tamaulipas Colectivo Amor on social media.
As part of the ongoing search efforts, a fake Instagram account pretending to be the band emerged, falsely requesting help. However, the musicians’ families have publicly denied the information posted there.
The last trace of the regional Mexican musicians was around 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, following a performance in the Riberas de Rancho Grande neighborhood, according to their relatives.
A family member of Francisco, the band’s lead vocalist, explained that the group had been hired to play at a palapa-bar in Rancho Grande, but when they arrived, they realized the location was actually an empty lot. On their way back, communication with the five musicians was lost.
On the morning of May 27, the State Search Commission released the official missing persons notices for the following individuals:
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Francisco Xavier Vázquez Osorio, 20 years old
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Nemesio Antonio Durán Rodríguez, 40 years old
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Livan Edyberto Solís de la Rosa, 27 years old
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Víctor Manuel Garza Cervantes, 21 years old
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José Francisco Morales Martínez, 23 years old
Local media reported Tuesday morning that the van the band was traveling in had been found in the La Cañada neighborhood. However, there was no sign of the young men. As of noon on May 27, their whereabouts remain unknown. The vehicle showed no signs of violence—no bullet holes or similar damage.
Starting at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, relatives of the five missing men gathered outside the Reynosa Attorney General’s Office to pressure authorities to intensify their efforts to find them.
Social media users also reported the discovery of a musical instrument case with the name “Grupo Fugitivo” on it, but it was empty. Around 12:20 p.m., rumors began circulating that the young men were already in contact with authorities, but Deisy, the sister of Victor Manuel Garza, went live to deny those claims and confirm the information was false.
Before disappearing, Grupo Fugitivo was on their way to a performance in Reynosa. Hours earlier, they had posted a video of themselves performing the song “Humilde de Abolengo.” They also shared a photo near the McAllen, Texas border, expressing their dream to one day work in the U.S.
“See you soon in McAllen, Texas. Puro Fugitivo crossing borders (Just kidding, the photo is on the Mexican side—but we hope to one day expand to the U.S.),” they wrote on their account.
Grupo Fugitivo performs traditional Mexican corridos at local events. They have over 5,000 followers on Facebook, where they share updates and musical content.
The group debuted in 2023 with four members, and a fifth joined earlier this year, according to their social media photos. Most of their performances take place in Reynosa, but they also travel to other parts of the state to share their music.
Their disappearance adds to Mexico’s ongoing crisis of missing persons, with over 125,000 cases reported nationwide. Tamaulipas is among the states with the highest number of such cases.
