More than two dozen corpses were discovered hacked to pieces at burial sites just several miles away from McAllen in the Mexican border town of Reynosa.
A total of 16 clandestine graves were found by volunteer searchers at the location, with many of the graves containing more than one body, according to AP News. Some of the graves were only covered with about 18 inches of dirt and may have been used as recently as one month ago. Authorities said 27 bodies were discovered.
The leader of the search group For the Love of the Disappeared, Edith González, said that an anonymous tip led her organization to the burial site, which was located near the middle of the city, NBC 5 DFW reported.
She said the tip may have come from individuals who used to work for area gangs that know about their murder dumping grounds.
“People are starting to shake off their fear and have begun reporting,” said González, per AP News.
Many of the bodies were reportedly chopped into pieces, making identification challenging. However, families of some of the deceased managed to identify their loved ones by tattoos that remained visible on some of the skin that was recovered.
The Tamaulipas prosecutor’s office confirmed the discovery of the bodies and said investigations would continue, adding that the recovery process was taking days.
Finding remains of missing people is not uncommon in Mexico, as over 100,000 people have gone missing and remain unfound since the figure first started being tracked, according to the advocacy organization Washington Office on Latin America.
Last month, Mexican authorities discovered 45 bags of human remains in a remote ravine outside Guadalajara, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Although unconfirmed, the remains were thought to belong to seven call center workers who had gone missing. The body parts discovered in the bags reportedly “match the physical characteristics” of the missing workers.
While not as deadly as some parts of Mexico, Dallas saw its share of murders spike significantly earlier this year. During the first four months of 2023, City authorities logged a 23% increase in criminal homicides year over year.
The Dallas Police Department has been handicapped by a staffing shortage of roughly 900 officers, according to a City document recommending Dallas should have around three police officers for every 1,000 residents.
The shortage has likely had an impact on Downtown Dallas, which logs considerably more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is patrolled by a dedicated police unit operating alongside private security guards.
