However, on Thursday afternoon, the last time he was heard from, Castro went live on Facebook to plead for help and for someone to pick him up from the highway between Mexico City and Puebla.
Castro is a volunteer coordinator at Border Angels, a San Diego-based advocacy group.
The case has generated considerable attention in San Diego and Tijuana, where Castro, 54, worked for a decade with a well-known migrant advocacy group called Border Angels.Castro often left water in the desert to help those making illegal and risky treks across the border, and in recent months, he had started working with the large community of Haitian migrants who have been stranded in Tijuana since the US changed its immigration policy toward them.
Castro said that he did not believe in the leaders of Mexico or the USA, adding: "But I do believe in the people".
A candlelight vigil was held Sunday for missing Border Angels activist, Hugo Castro, 45. His family had reported him missing a day earlier.
"The welfare of U.S. citizens is one of the department's highest priorities", said Preeti Shah, a spokesman for the U.S. Consulate.
USA consular officials in Mexico said on Monday they were helping authorities in the search for Castro, according to San Diego's KBPS.
"They want to kill me", he said at some point, visibly distressed, identifying his attackers as "adoradores de la muerte" or death adorers.
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He had repeatedly railed against the trade imbalance between the United States and China during his election campaign. It kept China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Germany and Switzerland on its foreign-exchange monitoring list.
Castro's sister, Angie Velazquez, said via email that her brother had helped hundreds of people, but he declined to "brag about it" or seek attention.
His partner Gaba Cortes has been giving updates on the search via Facebook, saying she was meeting with authorities in Mexico City on Tuesday morning to look at surveillance footage for any clues on Castro's whereabouts. I can't trust the police'. They planned to drive in a auto together south to the state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala.
Castro, a 40-year-old American citizen, was reportedly taking part in an activity called the Víacrucis del Migrante, an annual march from Central America to Tijuana meant to raise awareness about the dangers migrants face on their route to the United States. The group advocates for migrant farm workers and immigrant rights.
Morones said it was not uncommon for volunteers working along the border to be threatened by smugglers and others who making money by preying on migrants.
The Washington Post interviewed Castro in February for an unrelated story regarding migrant suicides.
"In a country of disappeared, Hugo Castro, you will not be one more", Cortes wrote on Facebook. "We are missing Hugo, and we are missing the 43", she said, referring to the 43 students from the town of Ayotzinapa who vanished without a trace in 2014.
"We don't know who is after him and if there is anybody after him, but we do know he's alone and needs help", said Morones.
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