Albuquerque AdvocacyCon connects families of missing loved ones

Families of missing and murdered loved ones gathered in Albuquerque this weekend for AdvocacyCon, an annual conference that connects people navigating unsolved cases with resources and each other. Co-founder Eric Carter-Landin said the event was built for families who have gone through the search for answers without support.

Carter-Landin co-created AdvocacyCon and co-founded Angels’ Voices Silenced No More after decades of his own family’s unanswered search.

“40 years ago my baby brother was murdered, and his killer confessed twice,” Carter-Landin said. “But he was never prosecuted. So my mom and I have been fighting for justice for Jacob for almost four decades, and we’ve gone through this very alone without support or knowledge of what resources are out there.”

Seminars at the conference walk families through media, social media, law enforcement and the legal system.

“These things happen so suddenly and you may not know how to talk to media, use social media, interface with law enforcement or how the legal system works, and you’re suddenly expected to be an expert,” Carter-Landin said.

Georgianna Castillo, who traveled to Albuquerque for her missing brother, said the gathering let families compare notes.

“We know now that there’s other families that can listen to our story and we can listen to theirs,” Castillo said. “There’s similarities and a lot of support in the way we feel and what we’re doing.”

Keynote speaker Nichole Schmidt, Gabby Petito’s mother and co-founder of The Gabby Petito Foundation, said the work has carried her through grief.

“Communities working together can bring your case back to life, it can help find your loved one and help solve a case and keep their story alive,” Schmidt said. “We can come in and be a voice for them and use our platform as well to raise the stories that need exposure that Gabby got.”

Analisa Brill, advocating for her fiancé, said the lack of answers has shaped her family.

“We as her family deserve to know what happened to her,” Brill said. “I want justice. I want those involved to be held accountable for what they’ve done because they destroyed people’s lives.”

Carter-Landin said Schmidt’s visibility lets her lift up other cases.

“Nichole’s very upfront about the fact that she got way more media attention than a lot of these cases and Nichole spends a lot of time trying to advocate for missing murdered indigenous women and people that look different from Gabby,” Carter-Landin said.

Nikki Wasilishin, who came from Arizona, turned her decades-old unsolved case into a public platform.

“33 years later there is no justice,” Wasilishin said. “It was declared a homicide and I started a podcast called ‘Papi Killed Mommy.’ Talking about it is extremely therapeutic. For 28 years I didn’t do anything, I ran from this.”

Schmidt’s closing message was to keep going and to take care of yourself while doing it.

“We try to tell families don’t ever lose hope,” Schmidt said. “There have been cases solved after 50 years.”