Malcom is Missing: A Daughter's Journey to Uncover Corruption and Truth in Mexico

by Robert Osborne

A single mother of two from small-town Canada looks for her missing father in Mexico and ends up taking on one of the most corrupt justice systems in the world.



In October 2018, Brooke Mullins hastily packed a small bag and boarded a flight to Mexico. But it wasn’t for leisure. Five days prior, she received harrowing her father, Canadian artist Malcom Madsen, had vanished. Driven by an instinct that all was not well, Brooke embarked on a quest to find him.



Within days, her worst fears were it seemed Malcom had met a tragic end. Armed with a damning video capturing his drugging, GPS data tracing his car to a remote jungle spot on the night of his disappearance, and a series of relatively misleading statements from his Mexican girlfriend, Brooke turned to Mexican authorities, hoping for closure.



Yet, even after numerous gruelling years and over $300,000 spent, closure eludes her grasp. Despite the emotional and legal hurdles, Brooke persists, propelled by twin to recover her father’s remains and to ensure justice for his perpetrators. Many might deem challenging Mexico’s notoriously corrupt legal system a fool’s errand, especially for a 42-year-old single mother from Port Hope, Ontario. But Brooke Mullins dismissed such doubts, steadfast in her resolve to fight on.

Genres: True Crime

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 22, 2025

About the author

Robert Osborne is a best selling author in Canada, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist. He’s spent more than twenty-five years working for network television shows and developed a parallel career as a feature writer, providing articles for the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and the National Post.

In 2012 he moved into the documentary field, first working as a script editor for The Beaver Whisperers on CBC’s The Nature of Things. During the past ten years, he researched, directed, wrote and produced the documentaries Unstoppable: The Fentanyl Epidemic; The Third Dive: The Death of Rob Stewart and Malcom is Missing.

Robert has won multiple RTNDA awards and a CAJ award for Investigative Journalism. In 2009 he received a Citation of Merit from the Governor General’s Michener Awards for a documentary on police accountability. In 2018 he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing in a Documentary for Unstoppable.

Robert has also published a non-fiction mystery book called The Third Dive, based on the documentary by the same title and he has also just published his second book, Malcom is Missing.

Reviews

[Sharon Ouderkirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read about this case in The Toronto Star, and was eager to read the book to get more details and discover the outcome of the investigation. Malcolm Madsen was a retired Canadian who spent part of the year in Mexico. He had a girlfriend, Marcela who lived in his home there (which he put in her name). One night, they went out to dinner and after he left the bar, he was never seen again. Marcela claimed that they came home and Malcolm later left for his other 'treehouse' home. But Malcolm's Canadian daughter Brooke was not satisfied with this explanation and strongly suspected Marcela of murder. Although Malcolm's body was never found, Mexico has a long history of people who go missing, so 'disappearing' a person is an actual charge. Brooke followed her intuition and pursued a logical explanation of Malcolm's disappearance. She was up against the corrupt Mexican legal system, and had to fight for every bit of progress in the case. She also had to hunt down most of the evidence, including video from the bar that shows Marcela tampering with Malcolm's drink. It was a long fight, on many fronts, but Brooke did manage to get justice for her father.
The story as Osborne tells it is not just about the relationship between Malcolm and Marcela and about Brooke's determination. The best part of the book (in my opinion) is the insight that he offers into how the legal system works in Mexico. The amount of corruption is mind-boggling, to the point where Brooke had to pay the police to make an arrest, even though they had ample evidence. That is just one stunning detail from a complex case.
I also found the contrast between privileged Canadian Brooke and poverty stricken desperate Marcela to be riveting. Brooke had her firm assumptions about Marcela as a gold digger and a user, but the flip side is that Marcela was a desperate woman with few options, and one of many women in Mexico who trade their looks for the company and protection of wealthy older retired men. That doesn't excuse what Marcela did, but it does give the readers a perspective on how a human soul can be morphed into a monster. I recommend this book as a fascinating glimpse of a crime, of Mexican corruption and of the the very long distance between Canadian lives and the ones lived by the Mexicans.

[Camille Louie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for lovers of true-crime mysteries. Malcom Is Missing moves with the momentum one expects of a murder mystery; at the same time the writing is steady, empathetic, and quietly powerful. In fact, investigative journalist Robert Osborne tells this true story with such honesty and compassion that it’s impossible not to feel personally connected to the search for Malcolm. Written in the first-person, the author weaves together wry, clear-eyed observations with personal insight and meticulous investigation to create a narrative that is both gripping and deeply human. Not a reporting of facts but a story shared. A satisfying read that stays with you long after you close the book.
~ Camille Louie

[C. Ellis]

A fascinating look into the absolute corruption in the Mexican justice system. Mexico should definitely be a third world country for justice. I actually read the book twice as I could not believe how bad they were and how much had to be done to bring them to justice. Well done Robert Osborne.

[Suzanne Babin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book for anyone searching for a good story.

Osborne’s confident, engaging writing keeps you glued to the page.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a page turner for me. It was an excellent follow up to the documentary of the same name. It also serves as a cautionary tale to anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation. Excellent read.

[Robert Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a labour of love for me. The better part of four years of my life went into the research and writing. I think it's reflected in the quality of the read. But I'm interested in other people's thoughts. Please share them with me.