Authorities discover 113 bodies found in secret mass grave in Mexico

Authorities in the western Mexican state of Jalisco have recovered 113 bodies and additional human remains from a clandestine grave that was discovered in October.

State Attorney General Gerardo Solís announced Sunday night that forensic workers were able to identify 30 of the victims, including 28 men. 

Solis said that all of the individuals had been reported missing.

A forensic worker enters the area where they continue searching for bodies in El Salto, a city in the western the Mexican state of Jalisco. At least 113 bodies have been recovered since October, including 30 which have been identified

Jalisco, Mexico, authorities work at a private property in the city of El Salto where 113 bodies and additional human remains have been found inside a clandestine grave since October

On October 1, investigators searching the body of a missing person were led to the pit inside the private property in El Salto, outside the city of Guadalajara. 

Authorities have yet to identify the owners of the property located in the El Salto neighborhood of Los Sabinos. The first human remains were located buried in between a pile of dirt and cement.

The state is home to Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful. More bodies have been found in secret graves there than in any other state in recent years.

Blanca Trujillo, who leads the missing person’s investigative unit at the attorney general’s office, added that authorities had also located the human remains of 25 people at a mass grave in the municipality of Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos.

According to Mexico’s Interior Ministry, from 2006 through September 30 of this year, 897 bodies had been recovered from secret graves in Jalisco, 605 of those during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who took office in December 2018.

The state state of Jalisco ranks first in Mexico with 3,568 cases of involving missing persons and victims who have not been located over the last two years.

In late October, at least 59 bodies were recovered from a grave site in the neighboring state of Guanajuato.

A member of the Jalisco state authorities observes from a door at the site where at least 113 bodies have been identified inside a clandestine grave in the western Mexican municipality of El Salto

Authorities in the Mexican state of Jalisco have been working at a private property since October where forensic workers discovered so far 113 bodies, including 30 that have been identified

A woman carrying flowers walks past a forensic truck outside a private property in Jalisco, Mexico, where agents 

Mexico has struggled with a staggering number of disappeared people. 

The federal government reported in October that more than 75,000 people have disappeared since 2006. Last year had the highest total, with more than 8,300 missing people.

Since 2006, 4,092 secret graves have been found with some 6,900 bodies across all of Mexico.

Authorities report that 186,206 people have been reported missing since 1964, and only 112,035 have been located, including 104,953 who were found alive.