Nepomuceno Moreno was a father trying to get by when he was gunned down in his van at an intersection in Hermosillo.

At 56 years old, he made a simple living, selling seafood on the sidewalk.

But when his 18-year-old son disappeared last year, Moreno became an anguished parent, searching for answers to their missing child. In Mexico, this has become increasingly common. The war on drugs in this country has taken tens of thousands of lives since it began in 2006. That doesn't include the missing.

Moreno, in his quest, became one of the public faces of the missing, joining up with anti-violence groups to call for justice. He publicly said that masked police had taken his son, rather than random gunmen. 

Corruption in the police force is well-known. It's one of the reasons that Mexico had deployed military forces in the form of US-trained marines to pursue the cartels. The hope is that they're less corruptible, more professional. Although, reports suggest the marines, too, have abused their power.

The general in this war, President Felipe Calderon, met with Moreno in October. 

A group of mothers from Central America have made it to Mexico after a trek in search of their missing children, according to this report by the Associated Press.