Authorities in Mexico City have discovered a mass grave on a ranch to the east of the State. So far seven bodies have been discovered inside the grave and authorities believe they could belong to the missing youths abducted in May. In May 2013, 12 young people were out partying at Mexico City bar when they were kidnapped. Surveillance footage from the Heaven bar shows the kidnappers taking the victims to a car two at a time. According to the BBC the video footage does not appear to show the victims being forced into the vehicle.
Prosecutors in the case made statements when the victims first disappeared suggesting their kidnapping might be linked to a rival gang war. Many of the abducted were from a dangerous neighborhood in Mexico City, Tepito. The neighborhood is home to drug gangs, but families of the victims say their loved ones were not involved with drug trafficking. There have been six arrests in the kidnapping case. The owner of the bar where the abduction took place, Ernesto Espinosa was charged with kidnapping. Others arrested include a driver, a security guard and another bar owner.
The mass grave was found on Thursday and authorities are waiting on DNA tests to confirm they belong to the 12 missing bar-goers. Prosecutors have removed seven bodies from the grave but reports say there were a total of 13 found. Only 12 people were reported missing, body 13 was likely never reported missing by his or her family. One of the suspects in the abduction case led authorities to the two graves containing the bodies. Designer cloths found in the grave make it a strong possibility the missing Heaven patrons are the ones in the ground.
Family members of the 12 missing people were at the gravesite when the bodies were being exhumed. Family members cried and hid their faces from the media not wanting to speak with anyone. Later the aunt of a 16-year-old boy abducted in May came forward in an interview. Eugenia Ponce Ramos said the hardest thing about her nephew's abduction was the "[distress] due to the uncertainty." Mexico is known for its numerous and powerful drug cartels. BBC reports that over the past six-years 70,000 people have been killed due to drug related violence. DNA tests to confirm the identities of the 13 bodies found in Mexico City should take two-days to complete.
More From Latin Times
Mexico City Kidnappers Pose As Police, Steal 11 People, Prompting Residents to Block Streets In Protest
Cave Painting In Mexico: Archaeologists Find Nearly 5,000 Carvings In Burgos
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.