By RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A new film dives into the mystery around a Latina labor leader who organized farmworkers years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta and then disappeared.

"Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno" on PBS focuses on a Mexican American mother of 12 who galvanized poor agricultural workers during the late 1950s and early 1960s until she vanished.

Director and producer Laurie Coyle says finding archive photos of Moreno sparked the idea. Coyle says a photographer and radio reporter remembered Moreno as an important advocate but didn't know what happened to her.

The documentary examines how the Texas-born farmworker emerged as a leader in California before moving to Arizona.

The film, a presentation of VOCES, PBS' Latino arts and culture documentary program, is slated to premiere Friday on most PBS stations.

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