If your child was taken, would you put your life on the line to save them?
Miriam Rodríguez loved her children with her whole heart.
And as most parents would, she would do anything for them.
Cheerful, brave and strong, she was exactly the sort of person you would want in your corner.
But in the community of San Fernando in Tamaulipas, Mexico, there was an undoubted culture of violence and fear.
After the Mexican government declared a war on drugs in the early 2000s, cartel violence was on the up.
With an estimated 70,000 Mexican citizens kidnapped and trafficked by cartels, it could be a scary environment to live.
But Miriam still worked tirelessly at her cowboy shop – Rodeo Boots – to provide a good life for her family.
Despite the violence, she was a safe space for her kids – they all knew they could come to her.
Cartel violence was rife
Her son Luis had moved away from the town to escape the danger, but the pair stayed very close.
And Miriam’s two daughters Karen and Azalea stayed in San Fernando with their mother.
Karen, 20, worked alongside Miriam at Rodeo Boots.
She’d wanted to finish school and perhaps it was nice for her to be so near to the woman who loved her dearly.
Only on 23 January 2012, Miriam’s life would change forever.
And lengths she would go to as a mother would be tested like no parent could imagine.
Because Miriam heard the news that no mum would ever want to hear.
Karen had been taken. Driving her pickup truck, she had prepared to merge into traffic at a rural intersection.
Only, two trucks pulled up alongside her.
Armed men forced their way into her car and drove off. And now they wanted a ransom.
Soon revealing themselves as members of the Los Zetas cartel, they were known for the abduction and trafficking of innocent people as a way to fund their operations.
The family was very distraught. Miriam had been working an extra job as a nanny in nearby Texas and rushed to get home.
Demanding money, the family were easily able to acquire a loan – kidnapping was so rife, the bank had a special loan service for families to pay ransoms.
And the Rodríguez family followed the gang’s instructions to the letter.
Karen’s father dropped off a bag of cash near the health clinic, and then waited in vain at the local cemetery, waiting for the kidnappers to free her.
Only, there was no word. The family was desperate to get their daughter back.
But what followed was a nauseating progression of calls, threats and false promises.
Demanding extra payments of $500, the family were no closer to finding Karen.
It was a desperate
