The mutilated bodies of nine missing students were found along with a bag containing their severed hands in the Mexican region of San Jose Miahuatlan.
The victims were students from Tlaxcala who traveled to the shore of Oaxaca for vacation before vanishing last month.
Their remains were discovered on March 2, three days after they were reported missing, authorities said.
Investigators found the youngsters’ hacked up bodies in the truck of a dark grey Volkswagen Vento with Tlaxcala license plates along the Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca highway.
The body parts were found contorted inside the trunk of the deserted car underneath a blood-soaked tarp. Their hands were savagely chopped off and stuffed in a bag discovered inside the already packed trunk.
Eight of nine victims were identified as Angie Lizeth, 29; Brenda Mariel, 19; Jacqueline Ailet, 23; Noemi Yamileth, 28; Lesly Noya Trejo, 21; Raul Emmanuel, 28; Ruben Antonio, and Rolando Armando.
Authorities did not confirm reports that the victims were linked to the Los Zacapoaxtlas criminal organization, but the province of Oaxaca is plagued with cartel violence.
“So far I cannot offer information. There are lines of investigation, but I cannot reveal them due to confidentiality,” Puebla’s State Attorney General Idamis Pastor Betancourt said.
“When we have a response and the investigation is complete, we will be in a position to provide more information.”
