We want him to know that we are waiting for him, that we love him. We are here.
- Yolanda González Mendoza
Jonas Trujillo Gonzalez is the kind of person that always makes people laugh. Always smiling, never bitter, he can make those around him break out into laughter simply by entering the room. A bit naughty when he was younger, Jonás would get into trouble by spending errand money on video game machines instead. Until the day he disappeared, he would greet his mother with hugs and tickles.
Jonás is the youngest child of Martín Trujillo Brito and Yolanda González Mendoza. The family lives in El Ticuí, located in the municipality of Atoyac de Álvarez, Guerrero. The town was once very important in the region because of the textile factory “Progreso del Sur.” The factory closed in 1966, contributing to the destruction of the local economy. Today, the main industry in El Ticuí is mango farming.
From the age of seven Jonás began to help his father in the field where he grows mango trees, corn, and sesame seeds. The family also has some cows, which Jonás milked in the mornings so Yolanda could make cheese. Jonás likes to raise pigs and hens, to earn money for himself and contribute to the family expenses.
For Jonas, El Ticuí, had already given him everything it could offer. After two years of working the land after high school he realized that In order to grow he needed to leave his town behind. He decided to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Benito, who was already a student at the Normal Raúl Isidro Burgos. When he left home to study in Ayotzinapa, Jonás left his father two baby calves that he had taken great care in raising, in addition to 60 mango trees that he personally cultivated in his father's garden.
Before his disappearance, the sky of El Ticuí was dotted with diamonds. It was Jonás flying a kite. Every year he made his own with palm wands and Chinese paper. This is how his mother Yolanda remembers him: the tail tickles her and makes her shiver. For her, Jonah is a kite.
