Searching for answers in Mexico

Seen from inside a Baja California state government office, Fernando Ocegueda presses his hands on an enlarged photograph of his son, who was dragged off by gunmen three years ago. Dozens of photos of those who have vanished have been posted there.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Fernando Ocegueda, whose 23-year-old son was abducted, walks with Anna Maria Echivaria, whose son and seven others were kidnapped from a birthday party.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Santiago Meza Lopez, known as El Pozolero (the Stew Maker), says he stuffed bodies into barrels of lye for drug cartels. He may be a good source of information about missing loved ones.  (Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty Images)

A Tijuana forensic investigator shows vertebrae and other bone fragments that are all that are left of a body recovered from a barrel of lye.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

The rotting body of a guard dog with a chain still attached lies outside a hideout of a kidnapper who worked for the Arellano Felix drug cartel. Santiago Meza Lopez, who was taken into custody after a raid near Ensenada, was identified as the pozolero who liquefied the bodies of victims for lieutenants of the cartel. Authorities say he laid claim to dissolving 300 bodies in barrels of lye.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)