Tucson Region

Service held for mother who died in desert trek

Cesario Dominguez watched red-eyed as the body of his daughter was loaded into a hearse Friday. A few cousins and family friends stood around him in a tight semicircle, while in a larger arc stood the volunteers and activists from No More Deaths, a group that provides aid to illegal entrants. "I left my house to look for my daughter who was left alone in the desert," Dominguez had said earlier to the roughly 70 people who gathered for a midday memorial service at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 3809 E. Third St. "I thank God that in my path I found all these people who helped me and never left me, not even for a minute." Lucrecia Dominguez, 35, died June 21 after being abandoned by the men who guided her and her two children, along with 17 other illegal entrants, through the desert. Her father came to Tucson in early July to search for her remains in a 100-square-mile area of desert, his only guide the recollections of his grandson, Jesus Buenrostro Dominguez, who stayed by his mother's side until she died, then wandered lost and disoriented for several days before the Border Patrol found him. Against all odds, he found her body last week after also finding the remains of three other entrants in the same area north of Sasabe. No More Deaths organized a memorial service Friday for the mother of four before her body was returned to Zacatecas, Mexico, for burial. "We gather to publicly lament the tragedy of her death," said Sue Westfall, St. Mark's co-pastor. "We gather to express our outrage at a situation that is needlessly lethal. We gather to consecrate the work of those who are still in the desert. We gather to comfort the family." Many in the audience said they didn't know Lucrecia Dominguez, a woman who loved music and dancing and who was devoted to her family, but they wanted to express their solidarity with the family and draw attention to border policy. "We're all very offended that people die every day, and they are nameless and faceless, but they aren't," said Margo Cowan, a lawyer and member of No More Deaths. "They're people like Lucrecia with families and hopes and dreams." Dominguez said volunteers from the No More Deaths camp in the Arivaca area walked with him as he searched the desert and provided moral support. "Here I found people who I didn't know, and they looked upon me as family," Dominguez said. "I love them as if they were my family, and I appreciate everything they've done." Krista Lenderman had been on the border with No More Deaths just six weeks when the group tapped her and another volunteer, Luke Roske, to travel with 15-year-old Jesus Buenrostro Dominguez back to his family's village in Zacatecas. Since being found by the Border Patrol, he had been waiting in Nogales, Sonora, unable to help his grandfather search for his mother's body because he could not get a visa. Lenderman said she does not believe Jesus has processed everything that has happened. At times during their 30-hour drive, he was a cheerful traveling companion. At others, he stared into space, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. "You just don't know what to say," Lenderman said. "Cesario is coming back with a daughter that's dead, and Jesus is living alone in the house he used to share with his mother. You hear about 17 deaths in the desert, but then you see people's faces and how they are affected. "Until you feel it, it isn't real."