9 Nuns Missing During a Pilgrimage in 2001 – 24 Years Later, A Diary Underground Exposes a Horrific Crime

In May 2001, seven Benedictine nuns from the Santa Teresa convent in Queretaro, Mexico, left the convent gates on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They carried rosaries, prayers, and faith as solid as rock. But just a few days later, they disappeared. No bodies were found, no one knew what happened. The case grew cold and sank into oblivion for 24 years.

Until a noon in May 2025, amidst the harsh sun of the highlands, the sound of an excavator bucket suddenly hit something hard like metal. Beneath the dry red soil, the edge of an object revealed itself—neither stone nor wood. The worker bent down to brush off the layers of old dust and realized it was a copper box, rusted and distorted by time but sealed tight with candle wax that had dried long ago.

That box was no ordinary object. It was something that had lain still underground for 24 years, waiting for this exact moment to be revealed. And when it was opened, inside was a diary wrapped tightly in plastic. The leather cover was worn, but the writing was as clear as if written yesterday. The first pages were dated May 15, 2001, with the opening sentence:

“The third day of our pilgrimage, something terrible is about to happen. If someone finds these lines, please know the truth about what happened to my sisters.”

At the bottom of the page was the signature of Sister Maria Anh Nguyet, 34 years old, one of the seven nuns who vanished without a trace on the way to the Guadalupe shrine that year.

When this news reached Father Minh, he was stunned into silence. A lifetime as a priest, he had witnessed enough pain, but nothing had haunted him as long as this incident. That year, Father Minh was only 28, full of enthusiasm. He was the one who blessed them, sending the seven nuns on their way, believing this would be a beautiful pilgrimage. He never expected that would be the day he unintentionally signed their death warrant.

For 24 years, the images of those faces never left his mind. Sister Maria Anh Nguyet, the eldest of the group with deep green eyes. Sister Cam Huong, the youngest after Sister Bich Tram, always telling her beads. Sister Hoai An, in charge of the kitchen. Sister To Loan, the quiet but sharp librarian. Sister Ngoc Diep, sensitive and prone to tears. Sister Thien Huong, with the demeanor of a gentle mother. And finally, Sister Bich Tram, the 20-year-old girl who eagerly asked to join at the last minute.

Back then, they called that trip the “Pilgrimage of Hope.” The plan was simple: walk from Queretaro to the Guadalupe shrine, stopping at parishes along the way to pray and help the poor. No one thought that just a few days later, they would disappear as if the earth had swallowed them whole.

In the early days of the search, the whole area was in a fever pitch. But then everything cooled down. No bodies, no traces. Only Father Minh and their relatives remembered, and still hurt.

And then the phone call from Lieutenant Hoang pulled him back to the old nightmare. Mr. Hoang’s voice was deep, trembling but full of hope: “Father, you must come immediately. This diary… Sister Maria wrote until the very last minute, you need to see it with your own eyes.”

When he arrived, seeing the diary in the copper box, Father Minh understood that this was not just about reading the past. This was a journey to face the naked truth.

The Devil’s Trap

The first days of the 2001 pilgrimage were picture-perfect. But by the second day, Sister Maria began to notice a man in a white shirt who always kept a certain distance behind them. On the third day, that premonition became reality. A black SUV blocked their path. The man stepped out, introducing himself as Ricardo Sam, a believer who wanted to “contribute a little something.”

But when Sister Maria refused the money, his smile vanished. He lowered his voice, cold as ice: “This is not a request; it is an invitation you cannot refuse.”

Three other men appeared. Ricardo forced them to carry sealed boxes to the Guadalupe shrine, lying that they were religious items. When Sister Hoai An refused, he threatened the lives of the entire group.

That night, at the house where Ricardo confined them, Sister Bich Tram—the youngest and most agile—risked her life to escape through a window to alert the police. But the next morning, the real nightmare began. Ricardo returned, furious, and dragged the group to a desolate ravine. There, Sister Bich Tram lay motionless. He had recaptured and killed her to set an example. He forced the nuns themselves to dig a grave to bury their younger sister.

From that moment, the pilgrimage turned into a forced march. Ricardo handed them six heavy boxes that emitted the sound of liquid sloshing inside, claiming it was “rare holy oil.” But Sister To Loan was suspicious.

On the fourth day, taking advantage of the guards’ negligence, they checked a torn box. Sister Hoai An smelled Ether—a chemical used in hospitals. It was not holy oil. It was raw material for producing drugs. They realized they were being used as mules for a criminal ring.

That evening, at a parish where they asked to sleep, an old priest named An secretly warned them. He confessed that Ricardo had bribed many priests, police, and officials in the region under the guise of charity. Father An himself had unintentionally stored contraband for him and dared not speak up for fear of death.

The Decision of the Martyrs

Knowing that even if they delivered the goods, Ricardo would eliminate them to silence witnesses (based on a phone conversation the nuns overheard), the group stood before a life-or-death choice. Sister Hoai An reiterated their vow to protect one another. Sister Maria decided to record everything in a diary.

On the sixth day, they met Mr. Ba Phuc, an old teacher who had silently tracked Ricardo’s network for years. He gave Sister Maria an envelope containing full evidence of the corruption network: names, bank accounts, lists of bribed officials. He warned: “If you survive, take this to a safe place. If not, bury it where someone can find it.”

That night, the nuns decided to bury the envelope of evidence and the diary under a large Mesquite tree, arranging stones into the shape of a cross to mark it. They understood that their chances of survival were nearly zero, but the truth must not die.

On the ninth day, knowing death was approaching, the nuns carried out their final act of resistance. Taking advantage of a break, they opened the “holy oil” boxes, broke the glass vials, and poured all the chemicals onto the dry ground. Then, they took holy water from the nearest church to fill the empty vials and resealed them. If Ricardo wanted to use these for evil, he would receive only holy water.

When the two henchmen discovered the strange smell, they furiously reported to Ricardo. He ordered the nuns taken to an abandoned house on the outskirts of Ecatepec to be “processed.”

The Truth Exposed

At the abandoned house, Ricardo appeared, furious at losing a shipment worth 2 million dollars. He ordered the nuns to be separated and executed one by one so the others would have to witness it. One by one, they departed with prayers, without a single word of resentment.

Sister Maria was the last. In those lonely moments of waiting, she wrote the final lines in a second diary (the one she carried on her person): “We do not ask for revenge, only justice. God will do the rest.” When Ricardo entered, Sister Maria looked him straight in the eye and said: “You are the one who will have to see it all. The truth will find you no matter how many years it takes.”

24 years later, that prophecy came true.

When Father Minh and Lieutenant Hoang held the diary and the envelope of evidence dug up from under the Mesquite tree, an entire criminal system collapsed. The documents Mr. Ba Phuc collected exposed 3 governors, 12 mayors, 8 police commanders, and even high-ranking officials in the church who had been compromised.

The story of the 9 nuns exploded across Mexican media. They were honored by the people as martyrs. Police excavated the site based on Sister Maria’s description and found Sister Bich Tram’s remains under the cactus. Ricardo’s network disintegrated, and a series of powerful figures were arrested.

Six months after finding the diary, a solemn ceremony took place at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Holy See officially recognized the seven nuns as martyrs for justice. Father Minh stood on the podium, looking out at a sea of people, and said:

“We once thought evil could not be resisted. But these seven women, with no weapons, no money, only faith and courage, caused an entire criminal network to collapse.”

Their story reminds us: Even in the darkest circumstances, the truth still has a fierce vitality, as long as there are people daring to sacrifice to protect it.