Christian group demands investigation into abduction of Protestant missionary in Mexico

A Christian rights group is calling on Mexican authorities to investigate the disappearance of a 79-year-old Protestant missionary who has been missing for more than six weeks after armed men abducted him from a town in the southern state of Guerrero.

The U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide urged state and federal authorities to open an immediate inquiry into the case of Benito Guevara Arcos, who was last seen on March 31 in San Vicente, a community in the municipality of Chilpancingo de los Bravos.

Guevara Arcos had traveled from the nearby town of Ocotito to preach and distribute Bibles. He was staying with a fellow Protestant Christian, who went looking for him when he failed to return at nightfall.

Neighbors told the friend that armed men had objected to the missionary’s preaching and forced him into a vehicle.

The friend later confirmed that an organized criminal group was holding Guevara Arcos, claiming to be verifying his identity even though he carried official identification documents at the time, CSW said.

Several days after the abduction, the criminal group claimed it had released the missionary in the town of Amojileca, roughly 20 miles from San Vicente, on April 4, and asked a family member to collect him there. Local Christians sent two men in a pickup truck along the only road to Amojileca, but they could not find him.

His family told CSW that Guevara Arcos did not have a mobile phone with him but carried enough money to return home on his own. On April 13, the family filed a missing-persons report with the National Search Commission for Missing Persons in Guerrero State and received police protection while posting flyers across the municipality.

Despite extensive local media coverage and the missionary being well-known in the region, no confirmed information about his whereabouts or condition has emerged, CSW said, adding that the family has not filed a formal complaint with the Guerrero prosecutor’s office out of fear of reprisals from criminal groups.

Anna Lee Stangl, CSW’s director of advocacy and Americas team leader, called on anyone with information to come forward.

She also urged the Mexican government at all levels to intensify efforts against organized criminal groups, saying those groups pose a particular threat to religious leaders and human rights defenders.

The disappearance is taking place against a backdrop of rising forced disappearances in Mexico.

A recent report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or IACHR, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States, found that disappearances in Mexico have increased by more than 200% over the past decade. The IACHR said state actors are frequently implicated, either directly or by allowing organized criminal groups to operate without accountability.

Mexico recorded the world’s highest number of verified abductions and assaults against Christians between late 2023 and 2025, with 376 incidents documented during that period, according to persecution monitor Global Christian Relief.

The organization noted that drug cartels frequently target pastors and Christian community workers because anti-drug and youth outreach efforts are seen as threats to criminal control.

Watchdog Open Doors, which tracks religious persecution globally, says criminal groups operate throughout the country, putting Christians at risk, particularly church leaders and those engaged in community outreach. In indigenous regions, Christians who leave local beliefs face fines, beatings, imprisonment and displacement, and authorities have largely failed to provide protection or accountability.

Guerrero State, where Guevara Arcos went missing, is among Mexico’s most violent states and has long been a stronghold for organized criminal groups. Cartels in the region have been known to exert control over local movements, sometimes targeting individuals for activities they consider threatening to their operations, including religious outreach.