Justhin Enrique Torres Molina, 15, sent a message to his mother, Janet, before disappearing alongside two of his friends in the Lomas del Paraíso neighborhood of Guadalajara, Jalisco, on June 30.
Earlier that day, Justhin had returned home from his graduation ceremony at Technical Middle School No. 171 and told his mother he was going out with friends. "On June 30, he sent me a WhatsApp message saying goodbye, telling me he wouldn't be back for three months," Janet said.
Speaking to journalist Azucena Uresti, Janet explained that she knows the two other missing teenagers because they were both her son's friends and neighbors.
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On July 4, relatives of the missing boys held a protest in Guadalajara, demanding that authorities locate the teenagers.
Since June 30, Justhin Enrique Torres Molina, 15; Jordan Isaac García Flores, 13; and Cristopher Alfredo Sandoval Muñoz have remained missing.
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The Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office said the three middle school students may have been recruited by organized crime, a theory that aligns with Janet's account. She said her son had never mentioned any job opportunity beforehand but did send her a farewell message before disappearing.
In addition, one of Justhin's friends told the family that, on graduation day, the teenager said that "they were going to pick them up to work" within a few hours.
The grandmother and mother of another missing boy told local media that her grandson had never mentioned any job offer or recruitment. According to her, he only asked for permission to go to a shopping mall.
Since June 25, six young people had been reported missing after attending their school graduation ceremonies. However, on July 6, the Jalisco State Prosecutor's Office announced that Flor Yoselin Espinoza Contreras, 18; José Israel Ramos Mejía, 17; and Elvira Monserrat Guzmán Mascorro, 14, had been found alive.
The search for Justhin, Jordan, and Cristopher remains ongoing.
Background: Missing Persons and Forced Recruitment in Jalisco
Recruitment through fraudulent job offers is a known tactic used by criminal organizations such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), not only in Jalisco but in other Mexican states as well.
In 2025, when volunteer search groups investigating disappearances discovered the Izaguirre ranch near Teuchitlán, they found clothing, identification cards, letters, and personal belongings believed to have belonged to people who had been looking for work.
Dozens of families visited the site in hopes of identifying the remains of missing relatives who had told them they were attending a job interview. Some relatives said the job offers instructed applicants to meet at a city's central bus station, where someone would allegedly pick them up.
During the first quarter of the year, authorities recorded 522 disappearances in Jalisco. By the end of March, 306 people had been located, representing an increase in the percentage of missing persons found compared with the same period in 2025.
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