Boston council members decry ‘dismissive treatment’ by police investigating disappearance of Hispanic woman

Boston council members have demanded answers from authorities investigating the disappearance of a Hispanic woman.

Three months after Reina Morales Rojas vanished, Boston City Councilors of Color demanded in a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and Police Commissioner Michael Cox that law enforcement and city officials must do more to advance the probe into the disappearance. Ms Rojas, 41, was last seen on 26 November.

The letter noted that it took Massachusetts State Police and Boston Police Department — the two agencies working jointly in the case — nearly two months before publicly announcing Ms Rojas’ missing status.

Council members have alleged negligence in the case, arguing that little has been done to find Ms Rojas because she is a woman of colour and an immigrant. Law enforcement has said that the investigation was immediately launched after Ms Rojas was reported missing on 28 November, but her whereabouts remain unknown.

“Unfortunately, the type of response Ms Morales Rojas’ case received reflects a nationwide pattern. Missing cases of women of color are often unmet with the same urgency as their white counterparts,” the letter reads. “Reina [is] also an immigrant, which further makes her susceptible to dismissive treatment.”

The Boston Police Department has challenged the assertion that it’s not actively working to find the missing mother, saying in a statement to The Independent that “all investigative tools” are being used in the investigation, including interviews

“We understand that there may be frustration about our inability to publicly provide specific details related to our investigation,” a spokesperson for the department said. “However, our priorities are Ms Rojas safe return and the potential prosecution of anyone who may have harmed her in any way.”

The department said that officials have been in regular contact with Ms Rojas’ family and are working closely with other jurisdictions.

The mayor’s office said that they would work towards keeping the public as informed about the investigation as it was possible, NBC reported.

Ms Rojas, a mother of two teenagers, arrived in the US from El Salvador in May 2022, according to the Boston District Attorney’s Office.

In her country, she had worked as a police officer, Boston 25 News reports. Before going missing, she worked packing food for an airline at the Boston International Airport.

Ms Rojas was last seen two days after Thanksgiving. Video of her movements on the day she vanished shows her being picked up by a silver truck at her home in East Boston. She was then dropped off on Allston Street in Somerville.

In January, Ms Rojas’ sister Alicia Morales told Telemundo that her sister had received threats and suffered violence from a man she was involved in after arriving in the US.

“The last time we spoke with her, she was so happy,” Alicia Morales told the network. “She was telling me all the projects she had with her children. I know that wherever she is, she is being held against her will. She would never abandon her family.”

Council members who wrote the letter to the mayor were present during a vigil outside the East Boston Police Station on Sunday.

”She is an immigrant, she is a Latino woman, and they don’t care,” Lucy Pinedo, the executive director of Latinos United of Massachusets, told Telemundo. “I have sent four emails and they’ve ignored [them.]”

Ms Rojas is described as a Hispanic woman with black hair and brown eyes. Her height is 5′5″ and she weighs 145lbs.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact Boston Police at (617) 343-4328 or Massachusetts State Police at 781-897-6600.