"This is a great work that the government is doing, and I appreciate that they do it with love, tenderness and understanding," said Beatriz Elena Palomino, whose son Fabian, a 26-year-old caretaker, was killed by paramilitaries in February 2002.
His grave was found June 23 by one of Cardoso's exhumation teams near the town of Fundacion, about 20 miles southwest of here, ending his mother's six years of uncertainty.
"He was a little mentally retarded," she said. "That's the only reason I can think of for his murder."
Ivan Cepeda, a peace activist and leader of a nationwide network of victims groups, said the fact that families were coming forward to identify their loved ones is "democratizing Colombia. It goes beyond the cathartic effect. It goes to the heart of the participatory nature of what democracy is supposed to be."
But the rising caseload and the emotional impact of the work is clearly taking a toll on Martinez and her colleagues. One of them, forensic anthropologist William Romero, said he liked "investigating events that otherwise would have stayed hidden for a long time." But, he said, "we work amid a strong sense of tragedy, that many people died for nothing, through a misunderstanding, for the way they dressed or because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Prosecutor Cardoso says he has hardened himself to the process but is still shaken by graves in which the skulls still have blindfolds.
Martinez likes the variety and suspense of the work -- only about two-thirds of the digs yield human remains -- but not having accused killers such as Rojas present.
"It makes you mad because they seem so shameless," Martinez said.
She seems disillusioned with the peace process, saying that new, emerging criminal bands are picking up where the demobilized militias left off. Civilian deaths continue, though at a slower pace.
"I don't think it's bringing Colombia to a better place -- definitely not," Martinez said. "We just have new players angling for power."
Martinez also finds it difficult to work under the watchful eyes of family members. She said it compounds the tragedy of the killings and makes it more difficult to focus.
"What's worse," she said, "is when the family comes along and nothing is found."
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chris.kraul@latimes.com
