The shadow of Sandra Granda, the photographer's sister-in-law falls on a wall of her house in Metlatónoc, Guerrero. Sandra has lost three of her brothers—two have disappeared and one mysteriously died in jail.

Digno Cruz the photographer’s wife’s grandfather, cries at home in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico, while talking about his missing grandsons.

A derelict house in Santiago Temixco, Guerrero, Mexico. After the photographer’s brothers-in-law disappeared, the family searched abandoned locations in the hope of finding their bodies.

Itzel Martínez, the photographer’s daughter, plays at her grandparents’ house in Santiago Temixco, Guerrero. Three of her uncles disappeared in 2013.

A machete lies in the bedroom of Digno Cruz, whose grandsons are missing, in Santiago Temixco, Guerrero, Mexico.

A man kills a chicken at a slaughterhouse in Acapulco, Guerrero. His brother is missing, but the family have not filed the case with officials. 

Photos of 14-year-old Perla Granda’s missing brothers adorn her bedroom wall. The photographer’s sister-in-law lives with her mother and surviving sister.

Lizbeth Ortega sits in the room where her daughter Zumiko shared a bed with her younger sister Liliana, in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Zumiko disappeared in 2016. Lizbeth became a member of Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa.

Itzel Martínez (6), the photographer’s daughter, dries herself after taking a shower in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. Three of her uncles disappeared in 2013.

A bedroom in the Cruz family home, in Santiago Temixco, Guerrero, Mexico. Three of their family members are missing. 

Alin Granda at her father’s home in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. She was one year old when her father went missing.

Liliana Felix stopped talking when her older sister Zumiko went missing. She and her mother Lizbeth became part of Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa, Mexico.

Lucero Granda, the photographer’s wife, showers at home in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. Three of her brothers have disappeared or been killed.

Dried cactus roots on a wall in Tixtla, Guerrero. In 2014, municipal police ambushed a convoy of buses carrying students from Tixtla’s Ayotzinapa teachers’ training college. Five people were killed, another student’s body was later found showing signs of torture, and 43 others disappeared without trace.

Mirna Nereida Medina, leader of Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa, Mexico, helps look for graves near Ahome. She founded the organization after her son was kidnapped and killed in 2014.

Members of Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa, Mexico, help look for graves near Ahome.

Juana Escalante, a member of Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa, Mexico, helps look for graves near Ahome.

Human remains are uncovered near Ahome by Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa, Mexico.

Beto Granda (8) plays at his grandfather’s home in Guerrero, Mexico. Beto’s father, Javier, died in jail. The police say that the cause of death was suicide, but the family say the body bore marks of violence.

Flower petals remain strewn on the ground after the funeral of Javier Granda, who had died in jail in Guerrero, Mexico. The police say that the cause of death was suicide, but the family say the body bore marks of violence.

Fabiola Cota, a member of Las Rastreadoras del Fuerte, a group of women who search for missing people in Sinaloa, Mexico, sits in a pick-up truck on the way to look for graves near Ahome. Fabiola lost her husband and is searching for her missing brother.

Clothes hang up in the home of the Campos family. They are still looking for José Ángel Campos Cantor, twenty months after he disappeared along with other students when buses from the Ayotzinapa college were ambushed.

Members of the local police force in the San Andrés neighbourhood of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, stand outside their police station. Once a popular international tourist resort, Acapulco is now dubbed Mexico’s murder capital, and has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

A man walks along a beach in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Once a popular international tourist resort, Acapulco is now dubbed Mexico’s murder capital, and has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Crime-scene officers look for evidence at the spot where a 16-year-old boy was killed beside his motorcycle, in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Once a popular international tourist resort, Acapulco is now dubbed Mexico’s murder capital, and has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Children run in the Fortin neighbourhood of Tixtla, Guerrero. In 2014, municipal police ambushed a convoy of buses carrying students from Tixtla’s Ayotzinapa teachers’ training college. Five people were killed, another student’s body was later found showing signs of torture, and 43 others disappeared without trace.

A slaughterhouse in La Sabana, a neighbourhood in Acapulco known for its high crime rate. Acapulco was once a popular international tourist resort, but is now dubbed Mexico’s murder capital and has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico arrives to deliver his state-of-the-union address in Mexico City. The president called for a redoubling of efforts against violence and said that restoring peace in the land was a top government priority, but homicide rates continued to rise through 2018.

Photographs of people hang pinned to an image of the Virgin at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Pilgrims come annually on 12 December to ask for miracles for their loved ones.

A shadow on the wall of a house in Metlatónoc, Guerrero, Mexico.

World Press Photo of the Year Nominee,Nominee

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