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Six years ago, Guadalupe Ayala was overwhelmed with grief after her son aged 25, Alfredo Ezequiel Campos, was taken from his home in Tlajomulco. His disappearance added another name to the list of more than 15,000 people officially listed as disappeared in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. In the state capital, Guadalajara city, a major traffic junction plastered with posters of missing people has been renamed the “roundabout of the disappeared”.

Estimates indicate more than 100,000 missing people in Mexico – one of the tragic consequences of the nation’s deadly drug crisis, with the majority of those missing thought to have been taken by criminal organizations and narco-trafficking rings. The total is likely greater as many people are not reported missing due to fear of retribution.

One of the things that caused me the most tears was reading that he had been exposed to the elements, particularly to cold conditions

Learning the outcome of missing loved ones can be fraught with danger, with relatives threatened or killed for trying to find their loved ones. They can also find themselves relying on contact with organised crime groups for tip-offs about locations where opposing factions have interred remains.

In an initiative to accelerate the searches and minimize the dangers for mothers such as Ayala, local volunteer groups and state authorities have initiated a new project to help locate burial sites, including employing swine to simulate how plant life develops on interment spots.

Scores of pig carcasses are being buried across sixteen separate areas on the campus of Guadalajara University – every one replicating a distinct scenario in which a human remains might have been interred, such as wrapped in a blanket, cut into pieces, burned or covered with rocks. Two plots have been kept vacant for reference purposes.

Swine are employed due to their biological resemblance to people in terms of bodily structure, genetics and physiology. Scientists have observed differences in the growth of vegetation across the grave sites, with plant life emerging quickly above the pigs wrapped in blankets.

“Even though the ground might be dry, the fabric holds moisture,” says Tunarui Roberto Chávez Gonzalez, from the Jalisco Search Agency, a government body that coordinates search efforts with family members and is running the Found project with collectives of mothers and local and international universities.

At other project sites, the scientists have discovered sunken earth acts like a dam, trapping additional moisture and leading to more growth, with the researcher noting they had recorded 15 different plants that correspond to the presence of bodies.

As well as the pig burial sites, the commission is experimenting with geophysical technology such as electrical resistance mapping, which can create images of the underground earth by measuring variations in voltage, and multispectral cameras on drones, which can identify compounds in the earth that often indicate the presence of decomposing remains, such as nitrogen and potassium.

The previous year, during a search of an abandoned house in the city of Zapopan, where crime groups had been known to sell drugs, a mothers’ collective had discovered about four bags with remains. The employment of an electrical detection tool enabled the Jalisco Search Commission to locate twenty-nine additional sacks and three complete corpses within a short period.

Some mothers’ search groups have learned that the cartels often dig graves near two specific trees: sweet acacia trees and mesquites. These plants are preferred because they offer cover while excavating pits but their main roots grow straight down, preventing large root systems that might obstruct the excavation.

By employing artificial intelligence and aerial surveys, researchers now believe they can use such insights to help prioritise search areas and speed up the likely finding of secret burial sites.

For the mother, the search for her missing son was concluded rapidly but heartbreaking end, assisted by the Fundej organization, a team of community parents and helpers searching for missing children.

They discovered four arms, with forensic tests confirming one was from her child, accompanied by additional remains over the following months.

“Upon locating the individual and find them segmented like that, that’s the most terrible dream. You imagine numerous scenarios,” says the mother. “You question how he suffered, how was his death?”

The following autopsy document was a traumatic read. “I never stopped crying when going through it,” she said.

“Among the details that brought the most tears was when it stated he was left unprotected to the environment, especially to cold, because it was evident in his organs. Before he died, he was very cold.”

While welcoming the new innovations accelerating the investigation for the missing, a state commissioner, acknowledges this doesn't resolve Mexico’s drug crisis.

“Despite having numerous investigators, it’s going to keep growing if we fail to stop the violence. But in the meantime,” he says, “we hope to develop the expertise to find those who do disappear as quickly as we can.”