8 series of articles on the situation of Guatemala's domestic conflict. Griffith Davis had also been killed in the mountains. On April 12, 1985 the United States Embassy in Guatemala had informed his family of Nicholas Blake's disappearance. His family sought assistance from the United States Government, its Embassy and the Guatemalan Government. Some time around April 24, 1985, he had gone to Guatemala to meet with United States Embassy officials and those of the Guatemalan Government. He had met Colonel Byron Lima, Commander of Zone 20 in El Quiché, who told him that the Army would assist in locating his brother, but that he had probably been killed by guerrillas. Six members of the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP) denied having killed the two Americans. His family had made many trips and met repeatedly with civilians and soldiers in Guatemala to try and locate his brother Colonel Byron Lima informed him that he had sent a patrol of 450 soldiers to look for his brother, but later admitted that he had not done so. On April 18, 1985, officials from the United States Embassy retraced in a helicopter the route his brother had taken in the Department of Huehuetenango, and spoke to Lieutenant Elel, Commander of the Army in Las Majadas, and members of the civil patrol. U.S. Embassy officials had established that Mr. Griffith Davis and Mr. Blake's brother had last been seen in El Llano; Commander Elel informed the U.S. Embassy that the two Americans had arrived there on March 29, 1985, had spoken to some civil patrolmen who told them that they were on their way to Cerro Sumal, and showed them their travel permits. The patrolmen told them that they could not visit the area because it was controlled by the guerrillas. Nicholas Blake was last seen on March 29, 1985. By 1987, teacher Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales had already received information that the civil patrols were responsible for the disappearance. Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales and the United States Embassy transmitted this information to the Guatemalan Government, that, as early as the beginning of 1988, Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales had known the identity of the murderers and the names of those who had burned Mr. Nicholas Blake's and Mr. Griffith Davis' remains in late 1987. The remains were discovered approximately three kilometers southeast of El Llano on the road to Salquil, near the place indicated by Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales. Felipe Alva took him to the place where the remains had been burned. In 1990, his family discovered that Felipe Alva could help them locate the remains, through his contacts in El Llano and Las Majadas, and asked for $5,000 to $10,000 in return. In 1992, Felipe Alva handed over to his family two satin-lined wooden boxes containing, among other things, earth, remains and tent poles. Felipe Alva had signed a document indicating that Nicholas Blake and Griffith Davis had been killed by the El Llano civil patrol. The boxes were transferred to the Smithsonian Institute of the United States Government for identification of the remains, but only those of Griffith Davis could be identified. While there were other remains, they could not be identified as Nicholas Blake's. His family again contacted Felipe Alva and informed him that they would not make the payment because the remains had not been identified as Nicholas Blake's, and asked him to make a second visit accompanied by experts. In June 1992, a second visit was made with a team of experts. With the assistance of the United States Embassy, Felipe Alva took them to a place situated 3 kilometers southeast of El Llano, but could not find the exact spot. They were accompanied by Colonel Otto Noack-Sierra of the Guatemalan Army. He had returned to El Llano in a helicopter with a patrolman who knew where Nicholas Blake's remains were to be found, and located the exact spot. They spent several hours collecting the remains, which they transported to the Smithsonian Institute, where they were identified as