Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing nobody can deny, it’s that Homero Gómez González was not only an agricultural engineer but also an environmentalist and politician dedicated to his community. Therefore, of course, as explored in Netflix’s ‘The Guardian of the Monarchs,’ his sudden death back in 2020 affected everyone in the area — people, nature as well as butterflies alike. That’s because he was reportedly the one to have initially formulated this idea of establishing the Monarch Butterfly Reserve/Sanctuary, which was then officially designated on the Michoacán-Mexico State border in 2008.
Homero González Was Missing for Two Weeks Before Being Found Dead
It was January 13, 2020, when logger-turned-activist Homero had left home relatively early in the morning to attend an afternoon meeting in the village of El Soldado, just to never return. The truth is this family man had actually promised his son he’d drop him off at school once his obligations were over, and he did so yet in a hurry because he’d already made another commitment. According to the aforementioned original, he’d received several calls from then municipal union leader Elizabeth Guzman asking if he’d be making his way to the nearby local fair, to which he’d agreed.
Homero’s wife Rebeca then revealed, “He called me… and said, ‘Tell [our son] Homoerito I’m coming for him, but get me a shirt because I don’t have time to change [before I have to be at the closing ceremony races].'” It had been reported this event was packed with significant political figures from Ocampo, Michoacán, so it seemed imperative for this environmentalist-mayoral candidate to attend too. But alas, that fateful evening was the last time anyone ever saw or heard from this renowned community figure alive, driving his loved ones to formally report him missing the very next day.
As per the documentary film, neither the local police station nor the prosecutor’s office took Homero’s family seriously at first, but then came the media as well as international pressure. This was the direct result of one of his brothers giving an interview to announce his disappearance plus mentioning authoritarian negligence, leading to them garnering significant attention. Thus came an extensive search for this politician by 300 global volunteers, especially since he’d long made it clear his goal was not power or success but doing the right thing for the people and the butterfly sanctuary.
However, what followed was Homero’s wife apparently receiving a phone call from a group of individuals claiming to have kidnapped him before going on to ask for a ransom payment of $6,000. She did assert she first needed to see him, just to get an image of what appeared to be him kneeling on his knees in a dimly lit room in front of about 4 or 5 armed men dressed in military uniforms. She hence admittedly gave them as much money she could gather on such short notice — $3,000 — only to never really hear from them again despite knowing she and her family were being followed.
Unfortunately, though, all of this just culminated in Homero’s cold remains being found floating in a well less than 200 meters away from where he was last seen alive on January 29, 2020. He ostensibly showed clear signs of blunt force trauma to the head as well as torture, yet the prosecutor’s office soon declared his cause of death to be nothing but an accidental drowning. They also ascertained his injuries were a result of him hitting this well’s walls on his way down, along with the fact he’d been gone since the day he went missing over two weeks prior – for them, there was nothing more.
Nevertheless, Homero’s family members plus forensic corners have since seriously questioned these official findings, particularly the time of demise since his body was not at all decomposed. In fact, by evidencing that his clothes weren’t sludgy, his fingers were only slightly wrinkled, and the lack of deterioration, they argued he’d been dead for merely hours when he was found. Yet, the authorities have maintained their initial ruling, declaring that the cold January weather must have frozen this water during the night and thus also hindered the entire physical decomposition process.
Homero Gómez González’s Case Remains Open
Despite the fact Homero’s death has been deemed accidental, his case actually remains open owing to the mysterious circumstances surrounding it — albeit there have been no updates in years. First things first, since this El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Preserve manager had spent most of his last evening with fellow politicians while having his phone and tablet in hand, it was strange for these items to be missing. It turns out they were in the possession of then-Ocampo Councilwoman Karina Alvarado’s assistant Jorge Arroyo, who’d apparently taken them upon noticing he was leaving them behind.
But alas, Jorge Arroyo was himself found killed shortly thereafter, just for his former employer Karina plus close co-worker Head of PRD Party Octav io Ocampo to obtain writs of protection. These court orders essentially enabled them to avoid all police matters, meaning they couldn’t be questioned in any way, shape, or form — the former has never even spoken up about this entire case publicly. These two individuals can thus be considered suspects, yet there is no concrete evidence against them, and their motivation of cartel connections is also merely rumors at this point in time.
Then there’s the fact many individuals had allegedly come forward to claim Homero had actually been kidnapped and was being detained in El Soldado, but no official ever searched that area. This was despite it being well known as one where cartel members had their safe houses plus detention centers – they seemingly kidnapped their enemies, took them there, and left them to die. Homero was an enemy since he was trying to stop them from illegally logging on the forest land near the sanctuary; he was running for mayor to ensure they couldn’t harm their environment further.
Read More: Jaheim Pugh Jaheim Barbie: What Happened to Him? How Did He Die?
