Was a Colorado Trucker's Kidnapping in Guatemala an Inside Job?
The backstory behind my latest narrative feature
If you’re like me, you’re always on the hunt for nonfiction books, magazine stories, and podcasts that deliver emotionally-stirring moments and heart-pounding accounts of adventure and danger. It was always page-turning stories like these—Jon Krakauer’s depictions of Everest and Katherine Boo’s intimate portrayals of Mumbai come to mind—that drew me to narrative storytelling in the first place.
Over 12 years, I’ve been lucky enough to report a handful of what I consider truly “great” stories. While I’m not sure my writing always matched the potential of the subject matter (writing is hard, but editors are angels!), these stories shared the elements of a good novel: interesting characters, with quests or missions or things they were fighting for, who operated in unique environments that might teach us something surprising about society and modern life—or ourselves.
Not only are these the types of stories that I want to dedicate this newsletter to, but I’m excited to share that I have one such tale in this month’s issue of 5280, Denver’s city magazine where I’ve been an editor since June last year. The piece involves a violent kidnapping, a subculture of Central American truckers, and a local family who may or may not have been set up by a shadowy employer right here in Colorado.
My goal with this newsletter, The Longform Lowdown, is to provide details that you can’t find in the articles themselves: unusual reporting experiences, origin stories, cutting room floor material, and updates. The plan is to share not only my own work, but also to spotlight amazing nonfiction stories by other writers. In this inaugural edition of the newsletter, I’ll give you the backstory behind the kidnapping story, which first came onto my radar about 8 years ago.
In spring 2015, I had been volunteering for an event at Regis University called PeaceJam, which brings Nobel Peace Prize laureates to Colorado to give inspirational talks to high schoolers. During a volunteer break, I got to talking with one of the organizers who, upon learning I was a journalist, mentioned that her then-boyfriend had been dealing with a tough situation: his dad had been kidnapped in Guatemala, and his family in Aurora, Colorado had only managed to save him by paying a ransom. Local law enforcement agencies didn’t seem to be doing much, despite evidence suggesting that the kidnappers had ties to Colorado. Would I be interested in meeting her boyfriend and hearing more?
Elvis León and I first chatted sometime later that year. The basics of what I had already heard were true, he told me. But by then, he had started working on a documentary film about his father’s kidnapping and its continuing aftermath; as a budding filmmaker, he wanted to capture his family’s experience for the screen. We both agreed that maybe I could write a print article whenever he finished his film project. I don’t think either of us anticipated that he’d be working on it for the next 7-plus years.
During that time, Elvis and I kept in touch while he documented trucking trips with his dad, took his investigation down to Guatemala, and kept the camera rolling while his family dealt with death threats and doubts. But Elvis couldn’t find the financing necessary to get his feature film produced and distributed—even with over 500 hours plus of footage.
In late 2022, we met again, and this time he and his parents agreed to let me share their story in print. It’s a privilege to present the León’s story for the first time, and personally I found it invigorating to get to use so much Spanish during my reporting, as well as explore auto junkyards and other places in Colorado I never knew existed around an underworld of Central American truckers known as transmigrantes.
I hope you’ll not only read my piece, “Ransom Road,” but check out Elvis’s website as well, where he’s just launched a crowdfunding campaign to help bankroll his long-simmering documentary called Somos Leónes. I know that his movie is going to get made someday. With years’ worth of powerful material, whatever he edits it down to is bound to be gripping from shot to shot—I know I’ll have tickets to the first screening. But for now, you can check out the trailer here, and my story for 5280 here.
What I’m reading or listening to
You may have heard some of the buzz—and there’s actually a strong Colorado connection—around the fictional film How to Blow Up a Pipeline that’s in theaters right now. But if you want a real-life account of radical environmental activists taking things into their own hands—many say too far—I recently finished journalist Leah Sottile’s serialized podcast Burn Wild about the Earth Liberation Front. I found it suspenseful and unsettling in a good way. Did you know that environmentally-charged arsonists burned down two ski lodges at Vail in 1998? Sottile not only gets former members of the so-called eco-terrorist group to talk to her, but her series smartly explores the uncomfortable questions that face us in a time of climate change: where is the line when it comes to saving the planet? What’s moral or “right” in defending nature? And did the actions of the Earth Liberation Front ultimately help—or hurt—the environmentalist movement? Sottile is a master of narrative podcasting, having previously produced the widely-praised series Bundyville, and I found Burn Wild equally worthy of a binge.
The Power Strip: A Place for Shameless Plugs
I know, I know. More self-promotion. But if you’ll indulge me, I’ve got some exciting opportunities to share. Having produced a few narrative podcast series in recent years (The Syndicate, Ballot Trip, and a third coming hopefully later this year) I’ve also been teaching audio storytelling at Lighthouse Writers Workshop, a wonderful nonprofit in Denver that caters to writers around the country. I’ve got a couple things coming up at Lighthouse during the next few months:
At the organization’s annual Lit Fest, I’ll be on a panel on June 16 at 12 p.m. MT with a couple other creatives, talking about how writers can break into podcasting. Details and tickets—including how you can attend the event in-person or catch the livestream—are available here.
In July, I’ll also be teaching a four-week course, “Introduction to Podcasting and Audio Storytelling”, over Zoom. This will be the second time I’ve taught the class at Lighthouse, but the first time virtually—so anyone can join remotely. Last time, the course sold out, and I’m excited to refine the curriculum this second go-around. The course is not yet posted online, but keep an eye out for future newsletters for the link, and mark those calendars if you’re interested. The class will most likely be on Wednesday nights in July.
Thanks for reading!
I really appreciate you following my work, as well as checking out this first edition of The Longform Lowdown. Please leave a comment or share this post if you find it interesting, and see you next time!
-Chris Walker