An anonymous tip submitted to a volunteer search group in Mexico reportedly led to the grisly discovery of 27 bodies that were hacked to pieces.
A group of searchers discovered the bodies in 16 shallow graves in the Mexican city of Reynosa, CBS News reported, citing Edith González, head of the search group “For the Love of the Disappeared.” Reynosa is located four miles from the U.S.-Mexican border.
Some of the bodies appeared to be recently buried with portions of skin still revealing tattoos that allowed family members to identify four of the corpses, CBS reported, citing the volunteer searchers. The other bodies were hacked into more than a dozen pieces, according to the outlet.
27 hacked-up bodies have been discovered in Mexico near the U.S. border. https://t.co/kSYe22dRzv
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 20, 2023
Reynosa is home to warring factions of the Gulf Cartel, one faction of which, the Scorpions, is believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of four Americans earlier in 2023 and the deaths of two of them. The Mexican state of Tamaulipas has the second-highest human disappearances rate in the country at a reported 13,000, behind the state of Jalisco, where disappearances are at nearly 15,000, according to CBS. (RELATED: Cartel Apologizes For Kidnapping And Killing Americans, Turns Over Its Own Members For ‘Lack Of Discipline’: REPORT)
“People are starting to shake off their fear and have begun reporting,” González told the outlet. She said some of the group’s tips are likely coming from people who once worked for the gangs.
Search groups, like the one González runs, are typically made up of the mothers or relatives of those who are missing, who rely on tips to help them find their loved ones, CBS reported. Their efforts aren’t without their own risks, according to the outlet.
Earlier in July, a drug cartel reportedly issued a fake anonymous tip of a mass grave in Jalisco in an effort to lure authorities into a trap. Four vehicles were destroyed and more than a dozen people were injured after the cartel detonated improvised explosive devices buried in the road to the “mass grave,” according to CBS.