Boston’s Latino community still demanding answers three months after woman disappeared

BOSTON, Mass.--The Latino community in East Boston is demanding answers three months after a woman disappeared.

Dozens gathered for a vigil outside the police station Sunday night. They were joined by some members of the Boston City Council.

Reina Morales Rojas got into a car in East Boston headed to Somerville last November and never returned home.

“Do your job. We are tired and enough is enough,” says Lucy Pineda, executive director for Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts.

Frustration continues to grow within the Latino community after Reina went missing three months ago and still no word from her. It took police nearly two months before they let the public know of her disappearance.

“My question to Boston authorities is how do you guys think that you will build trust in our community when Reina Morales Rojas has been missing for 90 days and you guys don’t have any information,” says Pineda.

Now 90 days later, some Boston City Councilors are getting involved in Reina’s case. Six members wrote a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and Commissioner Michael Cox reading in part:

“We speak on behalf of women of color, immigrants, and linguistically diverse communities whose emergency needs are too often not prioritized. Moreover, this case has revealed that the East Boston Latino Spanish-speaking community feels unheard and unseen by the Boston Police Department. police protection should be afforded equally to all residents regardless of race, class, national origin, or gender.”

A city spokesperson for the mayor’s office responded to Boston 25 with a statement reading:

“We’ve received this letter and will keep all community members updated to the extent legally possible given the ongoing investigation. as the Boston Police Department continues to investigate, our thoughts are with Reina’s family and community, and we urge anyone with any possible information to come forward.”

Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia spoke at Sunday’s vigil for Reina expressing the need for equality in every missing person’s case.

“When it comes to the issues that are impacting our people, we are an afterthought,” says Councilor Mejia

For Reina’s children, she’s at the top of their mind constantly. Lucy Pineda-executive director of Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts visited her teen son and daughter earlier this month in El Salvador.

“She misses her mom she wants her mom back. She misses her calls, text messages when they talk and also her son is saying that he misses his mother,” says Pineda.

Boston 25 reached out to Boston Police for a response from Commissioner Cox on the letter that city council addressed to him, but we did not hear back.

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