Nineteen unidentified bodies have been found tossed into a narrow 500-meter-deep canyon in the southern state of Guerrero, Mexican officials have said.
The bodies were recovered between December 8 and December 11, with authorities visiting the site of the mass grave in the village of Chichihualco on receiving an anonymous tip. Some bodies were whole, while others were cut up.
Officials, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said there was no immediate information available on the victims’ age or gender. Authorities are continuing to look for more bodies at the site.
The bodies appear to have been dumped between a month and a year-and-a-half ago. Investigations are underway to determine which gang might have been involved in their deaths.
Guerrero is one of Mexico’s most violent states, with gangs fighting to control the growth of opium and drug trafficking routes. Hundreds of people have been killed in the state in the ongoing drug war. The most famous disappearance was in September 2014 when 43 students were kidnapped and apparently massacred. Officials, however, have said that the location adn time frame of the recent discovery suggests the bodies found are not of the 43 missing students.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)