The remains of a 34-year-old woman who was reported missing in central Mexico were found by authorities at the home of her 72-year-old boyfriend Andrés Mendoza last Saturday. Reyna Gonzalez was initially reported missing Friday and was last seen at Mendoza’s home around noon.
While conducting search operations on Gonzalez’s whereabouts, police traced the missing mother-of-two back to Mendoza’s home. Officers entered the suspect’s home and discovered Gonzalez’s dismembered body along with indications of knife wounds in the victim’s chest.
Sources said Gonzalez went to Mendoza’s home to tell him that she was ending their relationship. The suspect was not agreeable to this and the victim’s reasoning behind her decision. Mendoza reportedly drove a knife into Gonzalez’s chest and used a machete to cut off her limbs before stuffing her severed remains into a bag.
Police in the town of Atizapan deployed a team of sniffer dogs near the area where the home of the suspect was located to search for other evidence. The K-9 team led the cops to a gruesome discovery of more human remains in the suspect’s home. A separate team was tasked to drill through several sections of the home and found human remains as well as women’s hair buried under the home’s flooring. Authorities discovered the bodies of at least eight women who are believed to have been murdered between a period of 20 years.
According to sources, workers found women's clothing and shoes along with a collection of video tapes and a notebook that listed the identities of 29 women. The tapes reportedly contained footage of the women and the manner in which Mendoza butchered and killed them.
Imagen Television Mexico reported that Mendoza confessed to eating the body parts of his victims and recorded them on video. He was said to have peeled the skins off the women's faces and their scalps.
Police said they found the bags containing Gonzalez’s body parts on top of a table but they could not confirm if Mendoza had eaten any of Gonzalez’s body parts.
Investigators were able to find identification cards of possible victims in the home belonging to Rubicela Castillo, 32 and that of Flor Vizcaino, 38. The two women were reported missing in July 2019 and October 2016, respectively.
As of Tuesday, Mendoza has only been accused for the murder of Gonzalez. Lead prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office division, Dilcya García said, the evidence investigators were able to uncover and gather strongly indicates that they could be dealing with a cannibal “serial” killer.
