secret government documents from the united states government declassified in 2002 show that the us ambassador to argentina advised the state department in march 1978 that bodies washed up on beaches of buenos aires province likely included those of missing french nationals, the nuns alice domon and léonie duquet; as well as three founders of the madres de plaza de mayo: azucena villaflor, esther ballestrino and maría ponce, and two other mothers. as noted in the memo, this was based on reports by agence france-presse, published in french and international papers on march 28, 1978, and a reliable source within the government. apparently this information was kept secret.