Denese Becker (born Dominga Sic Ruiz in 1973) was a survivor of the

Río Negro massacres The Río Negro massacres were a series of killings of villagers by the government of Guatemala between 1980 and 1982. In 1978, in the face of civil war, the Guatemalan government proceeded with its economic development program, including the co ...

. At 11 she was adopted by an evangelical pastor and his wife in

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. She became the subject of a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

documentary.

References

Guatemalan Maya people American evangelicals People from Iowa 1973 births Living people {{Iowa-bio-stub