The military regime in Argentina committed many atrocities in the 1970s, including the murder, detainment, or kidnapping of 30,000 people. Among them were pregnant women forced to have their children and then killed.

Deriving their name from the plaza in front of Argentina’s Casa Rosada, the president’s residence, where they have demonstrated for 37 years, the Grandmothers of Plaza Mayo work to find their missing grandchildren and reconnect them with their families.

The leader of the Grandmothers, Estela de Carlotto, was finally reconnected to with her grandson Guido. In November, 1977, de Carlotto’s daughter, Laura, was kidnapped and killed for her political activism Laura’s son was given to a family in Buenos Aires province.

More than 400 families are still trying to find their missing children, and even though the search can be slow, it is rewarding. During an interview with De Carlotto, a missing child, the 115th that the organization has found, was found. Their work has also contributed to a breakthrough in genetic testing that matches grandparents to grandchildren with 99.9 percent certainty using a new grandparentage index. Prior to this, geneticists only used an index based on parentage.

Correspondent Joel Richards reports from Buenos Aires about this group’s work.

Argentine grandmothers push to find missing grandchildren

The military regime in Argentina committed many atrocities in the 1970s, including the murder, detainment, or kidnapping of 30,000 people. Among them were pregnant women forced to have their children and then killed.