Resources

To obtain DNA samples from as many people as possible, the Colibrí Center has developed a DNA mailkit that can be used by anyone on the United States.

Taking a DNA sample takes only a few minutes but must be done at least 30 minutes after eating or drinking. The mailkit comes with instructions to guide people through the process.

The Colibrí Center pays the entire cost of the mailkit: materials, postage, and the lab fee for processing the result. There is no charge to people submitting samples.

You may participate in the mailkit program if:

• your loved one disappeared while migrating to the United States;
• you are a close relative (parent, child, sibling, or half-sibling),
• you have filed a missing persons report with the Colibrí Center, and
• you live in the United States

If you are interested in giving a DNA sample through the mailkit program, call the Colibrí office: 520-597-3941.  If we are unable to answer the phone when you call, please leave a voice message.

Unfortunately, the mailkit program is not available to people who live in other countries as it requires dependable mail service.

The Colibrí Center has prepared a video illustrating how to take a DNA sample with the Colibrí DNA mailkit. Watch it here.

Any family that has filed a missing persons report with the Colibrí Center can participate in the Family Network. The Colibri Center works with families in the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and other countries.

The Family Network includes in-person meetings in cities around the U.S., private on-line gathering spaces, and Hermandad, a quarterly magazine. Find more information about the network on the Our Programs page.

Disappeared: How US Border Enforcement Agencies are Fueling a Missing Persons Crisis, by No More Deaths

“Disappeared” on the U.S.-Mexico Border, by NACLA

Migrant Death Maps, by Humane Borders

‘No Olvidado’: These Americans find and bury missing migrants, by CNN

Failing to Bring Back the Dead, by The Center for Public Integrity

Honoring those who have died: the art of Alvaro Enciso, by borderartists.com

Meet Alvaro Enciso, the Artist Placing Crosses in Sonoran Desert to Memorialize Migrant Deaths, by Democracy Now

Identifying dead migrants, examples from the United States–Mexico border, by Robin Reineke and Chelsea Halstead

Lost in the System: Unidentified Bodies on the Border, by Robin Reineke

From the Southern Border Communities Coalition: “It’s time for a New Border Vision that expands public safety, protects human rights, and welcomes people at our borders in a manner consistent with our national values and global best practices.”

Accompanying the Families of Missing Persons: A Practical Handbook, by the International Committee of the Red Cross

Ambiguous Loss, a body of work by Pauline Boss