Reina Carolina Morales Rojas was last seen on Saturday, November 26, 2022 when she left her apartment in her East Boston neighborhood. She was seen getting into a vehicle that was headed to Somerville - reportedly to a friend's house. She is believed to have entered that building on Alston St. That is the extent of what we know. But we didn't know it until she was missing for 45 days. The Boston Police Department would eventually acknowledge their obvious negligence in notifying the public. There was no urgency. Critical time was lost.

With insights from Marcela García, the first journalist to report on Reina's case, we navigate the emotional toll on Reina's family and the systemic shortcomings in media coverage and police responses that hinder the search for justice.

The initial lack of response to her case, both from the police and the media, is a factor in why it took time for her disappearance to gain wider notice. Reina Carolina had only been in the Boston area for a short time and did not speak English, which may have presented additional challenges in her disappearance. Another missing persons case in the region had taken up the air in the room.

Marcela García, Associate Editor and columnist for The Boston Globe, covers a wide range of topics, from public education and immigration policy to social inequities and the Latinx community in Boston and beyond.

Marcela García
Boston Globe report on her visit to El Salvador: A heartbreaking visit to the hometown of a missing Boston woman

Women's Media Center

FBI

MMMPAC

Sources list at crimeofthetruestkind.com

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This podcast has minimal profanity but from time to time you get one or some curse words. This isn't for kids.

Music included in episodes from Joe "onlyone" Kowalski, Dug McCormack's Math Ghosts and Shredding by Andrew King