The bodies of nine Mexican students who disappeared after vacationing in southern Mexico last month have been found dumped on the side of a highway.
The gruesome discovery — including a bag of hacked-off hands — was made in San Jose Miahuatlan, on the border of the states of Puebla and Oaxaca, about 280 km from Mexico City, Periodico Central reported.
Five of the nine mutilated bodies were found underneath a bloody tarp, while the other four were found inside the trunk of a car, authorities said.
The victims — four women and five men between the ages of 19 and 30 — all had bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, according to El Financiero.
Initial reports from Mexican outlets suggested the victims were students from Tlaxcala who had travelled to the beaches in Oaxaca for vacation.
Eight of the nine victims have been identified: Angie Lizeth, Brenda Mariel, Jacqueline Ailet, Noemi Yamileth, Lesly Noya Trejo, Raul Emmanuel, Ruben Antonio, and Rolando Armando.
The ninth victim has yet to be identified.
More than 30,000 murders were committed in Mexico in 2023, according to Semafor, many of which were tied to drug trade and cartel hits.
However, while much of Mexico is ravaged with cartel violence, the province of Oaxaca is widely known as a popular tourist destination.
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The Attorney General’s Office in Puebla said it is working with its counterparts in Tlaxcala and Oaxaca to track down the killers, though no suspects have been named.
Video surveillance footage taken Feb. 24 shows the vehicle driving along the Atlixcayotl highway near the town of Atlixco about 145 km west of where the mutilated bodies were found, Periodico Central reported.
“So far I cannot offer information,” Idamis Pastor Betancourt, head of Puebla’s State Attorney General’s Office, said at a press conference Monday of the probe.
“All relevant investigations are being carried out,” the official added. “When we have a response and the investigation is complete, we will be in a position to provide more information.”