MEXICO CITY: Human remains discovered in 45 bags in western Mexico appear to resemble the features of several missing call centre employees, state prosecutors say.
The Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office said late Thursday that the remains were still subject to forensic tests to formally identify the bodies.
The gruesome discovery was made on Tuesday at the bottom of a 40-metre ravine in the municipality of Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, a large industrial hub in Jalisco state.
The authorities had earlier launched a search for two women and six men, all aged around 30 years, who had been reported missing since around May 20.
The missing person reports for each one had been made separately on different days, but investigators found that they all worked at the same call centre.
The call centre was in the same area where the human remains were discovered.
“According to preliminary information, the findings … in the Mirador Escondido neighbourhood in Zapopan coincided with the physical characteristics of some of the young people being searched for,” the statement said.
Authorities, who have provided few details on the disappearances, have since been working to determine how many individuals the remains in the bags relate to, what their identities are, and how they died.
Local media said the remains belonged to both men and women.
The state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the discovery came following a tip-off.
Prosecutors added that difficult terrain and lack of sunlight had complicated the investigation.
According to government data, over 100,000 people are currently missing in Mexico, where organised crime has ravaged parts of the country.
Jalisco state in particular is a hotbed for major cartels, including the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), and rivals Nueva Plaza.
