The last time Chantal Anicoche’s friends saw her, she was getting ready to go to the Philippines, excited to learn from the Indigenous communities. The University of Maryland Baltimore County graduate purchased a plane ticket for December without a set date to fly back.

Now, human rights advocates and her loved ones are crying out for her return.

The 24-year old disappeared on New Year’s Day, after the Armed Forces of the Philippines coordinated an operation in Occidental Mindoro in what the government said was an attack against the longest-running rebellion in Asia. Mindoro is one of the largest islands in the Philippines, located about 130 km from Manila.

It was over a week after the attack before news of Anicoche’s possible whereabouts emerged, with the armed forces saying that she is in military custody for treatment.

But her friends and family are skeptical, given Anicoche’s political beliefs. And they say the government is known to falsely claim that people support it.

And Jom Dolor, deputy secretary general of Migrante USA, an advocacy group for Filipino workers and migrants, said no one heard from Anicoche directly for days.

“If it’s the case that she’s doing well and she’s wanting to stay voluntarily,” he asked, “then why can’t any of the human rights advocates and legal teams reach her?”

A spokesperson for Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the office has expressed concerns over Anicoche to the U.S. State Department. The senator said in a statement on Friday evening that Anicoche’s mother had been able to reach her and that she is safe.

“I am in touch with the Department of State, which is working to bring Chantal home as quickly as possible,” Van Hollen said. “We all look forward to that happening.”

Neither the State Department nor the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines responded to requests for comment in time for publication. The Philippine government said in the news release that it is aware of “competing claims circulating online, including misinformed assertions about ‘detention.’”

Last week, strangers and friends gathered at the Meyerhoff Building at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to write letters and share Anicoche’s story in hopes the attention will help bring her home.

A former classmate of Anicoche directed people to sign a petition asking for her release. Two close friends of hers arranged posters in front of the auditorium.

Someone wrote “Release Chantal Now!” on the whiteboard.

Who is Chantal Anicoche?

A daughter of Filipino nurses, Anicoche’s family settled in the Baltimore area when she was a toddler. She studied psychology at university and was a devoted member of the Filipino American Student Association.

She wanted to understand what made many families leave the Philippines, as well as the U.S. role in her country, said Dani Acosta, a junior at UMBC. The two frequently hung out after meeting through a mutual friend, often practicing speaking Tagalog and sharing meals. They last saw each other late in the fall, when Anicoche announced she wanted to help in the relief efforts in the Philippines.

After a strong typhoon season hit several islands on October, Anicoche announced she wanted to go to her homeland. She always talked about how important it was for young Filipino Americans to travel back and learn from the communities, said her friend Gordon Mutch, a member of the Baltimore Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines. Mutch met Anicoche at an event sponsored by the Filipino American Student Association, he said, and the two had a few classes together.

Mutch said Anicoche’s family asked for privacy at this time.

Migrante USA and Migrante International coordinate exposure trips for those in the diaspora, Dolor said, connecting them with organizations like Karapatan Southern Tagalog, a human rights organization in the Philippines. One of the trips had been to Mindoro region, where advocates say they document the forced displacement and land seizures of Indigenous communities.

Anicoche reached out around that time asking them to help facilitate her trip.

“We really commend and defend her decision to do that,” Dolor said. “It’s a really admirable thing for her to want to go back to her roots and see the commitments for herself.”

New Year’s Day attack

On New Year’s Day, the Armed Forces of the Philippines deployed bombs and fired onto the township of Abra de Log, home to communities indigenous to Mindoro, Dolor said

At least 188 families were displaced, according to Migrante International, and four people died. Military attacks and killings by state forces in rural Philippines are on the rise, according to Al Jazeera.

The Philippine government said in a news release that the bombings in Mindoro were an attack against the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. .

Karapatan Southern Tagalog sent a team of advocates to Mindoro after the bombings on what they call a fact-finding mission. The military denied access to the community and is blocking information and media, Dolor said.

Advocates worldwide sounded alarms about the bombings, calling on the military to free Anicoche. Several of her friends learned she was missing through social media. Chapters of Filipino advocacy groups in the U.S. organized protests in front of Philippine embassies.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines posted a video of Anicoche on Jan. 8, announcing her rescue. The military said she was found in the quiet hills near Abra de Ilog.

But Dolor, as well as advocates from Malaya Movement and other human rights organizations, cast doubt on the video. Advocates are questioning why it took over a week to find Anicoche — who was found just 500 meters from the site.

The 203rd Infantry Brigade, a military unit that advocates say is responsible for attacks on Indigenous and rural communities, said Anicoche is in their care. The military issued a statement saying she is there voluntarily.

“As she was brought to the 2ID headquarters for medical care, her smile radiated as living proof that real freedom is felt not in intimidation, but in the compassionate hands of those who protect life,” the military said in a statement on social media.

The Philippine government said Anicoche is “alive, safe, and receiving appropriate medical attention,” according to a January news release. Ernesto Torres, a Philippine government official, said in a statement that the case “underscores a broader policy imperative for the protection of youth from violent radicalization and grooming.”

The government has a history in forcibly disappearing activists and “red- tagging” them — identifying them as communist or insurgent supporters, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Last Wednesday evening, advocates with UMBC played “Balang Araw,” a favorite song of Anicoche, performed tinikling dance, and shared stories about U.S.-backed violations of human rights in the Philippines. Many credited Anicoche for what they knew about Filipino history, human rights issues and the conditions of the country’s Indigenous communities.

It’s also why many doubt that Anicoche is voluntarily staying with the military.

Acosta said Anicoche is an example of what it means to care about one’s community.

“If any of us were in her position, she would be fighting just as hard,” they said.

Her friends at the event described her as high-energy and passionate — the type of person who is still singing karaoke at the end of the night.

They remember how she advocated to keep a historically Filipino church open when the Archdiocese of Baltimore announced it would be merging the parish, and organized a winter drive for Filipino teachers in Baltimore City, who were in the country with J-1 visas.

She’s not someone who is easily swayed in her convictions,” Acosta said. “She’s someone who seeks to learn more about what is affecting people.”