Family members of missing butterfly conservationist Homero Gómez González have been the victims of an extortion campaign related to his disappearance.

“They have been extorting the family with alleged photos and [the family] has been depositing money,” said Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles at a press conference on Monday morning.

“We’re going to find him. I hope we find him alive,” the governor said.

He added that he will meet with members of the Michoacán Missing Persons Search Commission later this week.

Monday marked two weeks since the disappearance of the head administrator at the El Rosario monarch butterfly sanctuary in Angangueo, Michoacán.

Gómez’s brother Juan said that Homero was last seen on January 13 at a fair in the town of Ocampo with Mayor Roberto Arriaga Colín and other municipal officials. He left at around 9:30pm and was not seen or heard from afterwards.

Juan said he was unaware of what happened to his brother or whether he had received threats before his disappearance, as Homero Gómez was reserved about such matters.

He added that they are not ruling out any clue or line of investigation.

“The authorities are working and I hope that they do their job well so that this doesn’t go unpunished like so many cases, not just in Michoacán but nationwide,” he said.

The National Search Commission reported earlier this month that there are more than 61,000 missing persons in Mexico.

Source: La Voz de Michoacán (sp)