The bodies of five men and four women who had gone missing after a trip to Huatulco, in the state of Oaxaca, were found along a highway by Mexican authorities According to local reports the nine bodies showed signs of torture and were found dismembered in the municipality of San José Miahuatlán The nine people had been reported missing since Feb 27 but it wasn't until three days later that authorities were able to locate their bodies head of the State Attorney General's Office said at a press conference that there was no information yet regarding how events unfolded but I cannot reveal them due to confidentiality," she said "All relevant investigations are being carried out. When we have a response and the investigation is complete, we will be in a position to provide more information," Betancourt added, as reported by PEOPLE According to Central Puebla Irreverente only two of the bodies were able to be identified by authorities via their ID cards: Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia The Oaxaca Attorney General's Office said in a Facebook post that Perez Garcia had been traveling in a Ford Fiesta with Yucatán license plates accompanied by Brenda Mariel Salas Moya who had also been reported missing but was later found alive in the state of Puebla The abandoned vehicle where the deceased individuals were discovered was found along with a tarp full of blood stains Four of the bodies were reportedly found in the vehicle's trunk and the bloodied tarp was discovered inside the Volkswagen Vento along with five more bodies Officials also reportedly recovered a bag with eight pairs of hands including several who were dismembered and believed to be missing students allegedly vacationing in Mexico The publication identified them as four women and five men between the ages of 19 and 30 saying they were all originally from Tlaxcala While the deaths are shrouded in mystery, The Daily Mail reported José "EL Jocha" Lavarieg who the media outlet described as "an aspiring mayor-turned-gang leader," committed "a cardinal sin in the Mexican criminal world" that led to the murders The Daily Mail said Lavarieg was also found dead the media outlet said Lavariega recruited the students to "commit a wave of muggings and thefts." as a gang that operates in Oaxaca felt Lavarieg "overstepped the line" on rival turf El Financiero reported the students were all shot Billal Rahman is an immigration reporter based in London He specializes in immigration policy and border security He has uncovered allegations of misconduct among border agents under investigation and exposed claims of abuse at ICE-run detention centers in the U.S He joined Newsweek in 2024 from The Independent He has covered the British Post Office scandal and the conflict between Israel and Hamas he studied Journalism in Edinburgh and then worked for STV News before moving to London in 2022 You can contact Billal at b.rahman@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content feared to be those of missing students vacationing in Mexican state of Oaxaca were discovered beside a highway on Sunday The remains were found inside and around an abandoned car according to El Financiero and Periodico Central A bag containing eight pairs of severed hands was also recovered Mexican Cartels are infamous for amputating hands of victims The bodies had bullet wounds and visible signs of torture The car was located in San José Miahuatlán ID cards found at the scene matched missing people Angie Lizeth Pérez García (L) and Angie Lizeth P.G. who was reported missing from Santa María Huatulco in Oaxaca on February 28 Others reported missing include Brenda Mariel N. Chilling CCTV footage captures the last known sighting of the group on February 24 The friends were seen driving along the Atlixcayotl highway near the town of Atlixco approximately 90 miles west of where the remains were later discovered The gruesome discovery of their bodies came on the same day that José Alfredo who had previously run for mayor in Oaxaca's Huatulco resort area 'That's what you get for being a thief,' NVI Noticias reported Authorities have not confirmed the discovery of the bodies is cartel-related; the manner of the killings could suggest criminal organizations were involved driven by the high stakes of drug trafficking and organized crime employs ruthless tactics—from mass executions and brutal dismemberments to widespread kidnappings—to assert their power Homicides in Mexico declined last year to the lowest level since 2016 according to preliminary 2023 official data a 6.7 percent decline on the 33,287 recorded in 2022 the head of Puebla's State Attorney General's Office but I cannot reveal them due to confidentiality All relevant investigations are being carried out When we have a response and the investigation is complete we will be in a position to provide more information." Investigations into the discovery remain ongoing Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Some of the students were reported missing from beaches on Mexico's Pacific coast at the end of February  Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca Facebook; Attorney General for Missing Persons from Tlaxcala Facebook Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca Facebook You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience Police found the remains of four women and five men in Mexico Sunday,who were reportedly students vacationing the bodies were found in the municipality of San José Miahuatlán Investigators discovered the dismembered bodies, believed to belong to missing students vacationing in Oaxaca, Mexico, near a highway. They found body parts from at least nine people inside and around an abandoned car covered by a blood-stained tarp, El Financiero reports They also located a bag containing eight pairs of hands but I cannot reveal them due to confidentiality,” Idamis Pastor Betancourt the head of the State Attorney General’s Office Central Puebla Irreverente reports that police identified only two of the bodies through their ID cards: Angie Lizeth P.G. missing from Santa María Huatulco in Oaxaca since Februay 28 missing from San Pedro Pochutla in Oaxaca on the same day Betancourt indicated that all of the victims have not been publicly identified According to FOX  News Digital, other missing students included Brenda Mariel N. a gray Volkswagen Vento with aTlaxcala  license plate around 90 miles west of the site where police found the bodies “When we have a response and the investigation is complete we will be in a position to provide more information,” Betancourt added For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast Join Nancy Grace for her new online video series designed to help you protect what you love most — your children. [feature Photos: Lesly Noya Trejo and Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia/ The Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca Attorney General for Missing Persons from Tlaxcala.] Listen to the Crime Stories with Nancy Grace podcast Watch Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on YouTube CHANNEL FINDER: Watch Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on your TV Marathi | Hindi 2025 14:45 IST2025-03-06T14:43:59+5:302025-03-06T14:45:10+5:30 The vacation of nine students ended in a horrific discovery as their severed bodies were found alongside a Mexican highway were located in an abandoned vehicle's trunk and under a blood-soaked tarp near San Jose Miahuatlan a bag with eight pairs of severed hands was also found Two more hands left in the trunk reported Periodico Central while the other five corpses were left under the tarp.The bodies found in the trunk belonged to four women and five men aged between 19 to 30 They reportedly have signs of bullet wounds and torture Most of the victims have been identified: Angie Lizeth went on a vacation to Mexico from Tlaxcala and reportedly went missing on February 27 when they travelled to the beaches in Oaxaca for a vacation A dark grey Volkswagen Vento with license plates registered in neighbouring Tlaxcala was discovered on Sunday afternoon around 150 miles southeast of Mexico City Video surveillance footage taken February 24 shows the vehicle driving along the Atlixcayotl highway near the town of Atlixco about 90 miles west of where the students’ remains were found Periodico Central said.While the suspects are yet to be named the nature of the killings and the brutality suggest cartel involvement This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed CLICK HERE for High School Football Scores OAXACA, MEX - Nine bodies, believed to be missing students on vacation, were discovered dismembered on the side of a highway in Mexico earlier this week, according to local reports. Authorities said the remains of four women and five men were found in an abandoned Volkswagen Vento in San José Miahuatlán were reportedly missing before the discovery A tarp covering five bodies and a bag containing eight pairs of hands were found inside the vehicle with two additional hands located in the trunk They had been traveling to the beaches in Oaxaca to celebrate their graduation Officials have not confirmed the identities of the victims head of the State Attorney General’s Office said authorities would release further details once the investigation is complete Two of the victims were identified as women who had been reported missing in Oaxaca on Feb was last seen traveling with Brenda Mariel Salas Moya in a Ford Fiesta with Yucatan plates Salas Moya was initially reported missing but was later found alive in Puebla was identified on Facebook by a city official from Tetla The missing individuals ranged in age from 19 to 30 and had all traveled to beaches in Oaxaca Authorities have not determined whether they knew each other View Past Issues indie web and mobile news platform with a local audience larger than all the San Angelo TV stations Advertising here can transform your business We understand that seeing some stories may be difficult for some readers Our goal as a news organization is to report on matters of public interest with accuracy and fairness While we recognize that certain stories can be sensitive or unsettling we are committed to providing transparent and factual reporting to keep our community informed If there are specific inaccuracies or additional context you believe would enhance the story, we encourage you to share those with us for consideration. We take our responsibility to the community seriously and strive to maintain a respectful dialogue with our audience. Contact us here The survivor of an attack where a group of beachgoers were intercepted and killed in the Mexican state of Puebla provided details of how the incident began Local press reported that Brenda Mariel N. in which nine people were killed and several of them dismembered said she and another victim had left a hostel when they were intercepted but what seemed to be a local police car were beat and placed a hood on their heads before separating them from where she managed to reach a city and report the crime Jacqueline and eight other people were killed The nine bodies showed signs of torture and were found dismembered in the municipality of San José Miahuatlán The bodies were found in an abandoned vehicle along with a tarp full of blood stains and the bloodied tarp was discovered inside the Volkswagen Vento along with five more corpses who were seemingly not part of a same group had been reported missing since February 27 families throughout Mexico make offerings of food to their departed loved ones A fresh loaf of pan de muerto sits outside the oven at Panificadora San Martín in Oaxaca City.Photograph by Stephanie FodenByJoel BalsamPhotographs byStephanie FodenNovember 2, 2018•12 min readIn ovens across Oaxaca Sculpt the velvety dough into a round body and watch it rise into a golden pan de muerto—bread of the dead and pan de muerto are laid out on ofrendas to welcome the dead home—but Oaxaca is the only state where the bread stares back A man delivers loaves of bread to Central de Abasto market in Oaxaca City.Photograph by Stephanie FodenForty minutes outside of Oaxaca City in Tlacolula a young runner jostles his way through the crowd balancing a pallet stacked high with pan de muerto on his head a bakery that ships thousands of loaves to the market in the days leading up to Día de los Muertos Edgardo Montes García pinches the shape of a head and feet into a slab of dough and presses in the carita García says Tlacopan—a bakery he hopes to take over from his father someday—is adored for maintaining the traditional Oaxacan style of bread making "The bread that you'll see in Mexico City is very commercial, but here it’s a very, very artisanal bread,” he says. “From the recipe, the way we do the work, and the oven—it’s an oven of clay and firewood—it’s very traditional." On an altar in his home, García will place a loaf of his best pan de muerto alongside chocolate, fruit, and mole negro, a complex sauce made with as many as 40 ingredients including fiery chilies and rich, Mexican chocolate. “[The dead] come the first [of November] and the second to eat breakfast with us,” he says. “On the altar, we put ofrendas of the most traditional food or what they liked.” Skull-shaped caritas dry in the sun outside the Sánchez family home in Miahuatlán.Photograph by Stephanie FodenWhile Tlacolula is known for its pan de muerto, the caritas themselves come from two hours south of Oaxaca City in the town of Miahuátlan. There, 70-year-old Guadalupe Sánchez watches as Lucio, the youngest of her 11 children, presses a teardrop-shaped slab of dough into a clay mold of Jesus’s face—the same mold she used as a girl. Sánchez recalls when the caritas only came in the shape of Christ, with the bread signifying the tomb he rose from to heaven. But other shapes have been added over the years, including the Virgin Mary, angels, and secular figures like calaveras (skulls) and Aztec symbols, a tribute to one of the ancient civilizations that inspired Día de los Muertos. Starting as early as February, three generations of the Sánchez family color the face-shaped dough with vegetable-based paint and churn out hundreds of thousands of caritas. Watching their process, it soon becomes clear why the faces are made with safe-to-eat ingredients: Sánchez’s three-year-old granddaughter María Fernanda tosses a piece of bread into her mouth, carita and all. Seventy-year-old Guadalupe Sánchez has been making caritas for pan de muerto since she was a girl.Photograph by Stephanie FodenGuadalupe Sánchez holds a bowl of caritas in her family home in Miahuatlán.Photograph by Stephanie Foden"Working all this time with the family, the family becomes one,” says Ana Lilia Toribio Santos, Sánchez’s daughter-in-law. "It’s a tradition from a long time ago and we don’t want to lose it in future generations.” On the other side of town, another one of Sánchez’s grandkids, 28-year-old Eduardo, paints a gigantic face of Frida Kahlo. The art piece will be displayed in the center of Miahuátlan and entered in the first-ever carita competition for a chance to win 1500 pesos. When asked if he thinks his carita will win, without looking up he says, “Probably." “Here in Oaxaca, we celebrate this festival more than Christmas, more than Mexico’s Independence Day,” Eduardo explains. “We see the dead with sadness, but also with joy.” Behind him is an altar decorated with pictures of his grandparents as well as his father who died just two years ago. There’s also a Bible, flowers, and candles, but no pan de muerto. Noticing its absence, Eduardo runs into a back room and pulls out a golden-brown loaf—embedded in it is a face made by the Sánchez family. Eduardo Espina Sánchez paints a Frida Kahlo-inspired carita for a competition in Miahuatlán.Photograph by Stephanie Foden“There’s no Día de Muertos altar without bread,” Eduardo explains. “The bread is essential.” On the evening of October 31, copal incense sweetens the air and thousands of flickering candles illuminate Pantéon de Xoxocotlán, a cemetery just south of Oaxaca City—Día de los Muertos has arrived. Juventino Hernández Esteba, a Mixtec native and practicing Catholic, sits in front of his mother’s grave and snacks on pan de muerto with his wife Luciana and granddaughter Dalila. “Today, the angelitos will come—the children, the little souls. Tomorrow in the afternoon, the angelitos will go,” he says. “Then the adults will come at 3 p.m. tomorrow and they’ll stay until November 2.” Bread, marigolds, and fruit decorate an altar in Oaxaca's zocalo, or public square. Esteba admits not everyone believes the dead visit. When he came to the cemetery with his mother in the past, he was also skeptical. But her death was all the convincing he needed. “My mother died on November 2 at 3 p.m.—the day they all go,” he says. “It was something incredible. Because me, I believed, but not that much. But when this happened, I believed.” A young girl, Margarita Jimenez, dressed as a skeleton stands on a grave in Panteón Xoxocotlán. The calavera Catrina, or elegant skull, is the Day of the Dead’s most iconic symbol. Rey Baltazer sits on a grave decorated with candles and flowers in Panteon Viejo Xoxocotlán on Day of the Dead, when people of all ages paint their faces to resemble calaveras, or skulls. Across the cemetery, men blow into tubas and strum guitars amidst choruses of laughter. The majority sit quietly alongside lavishly decorated headstones, some drink beer or mescal, others dunk pan de muerto in chocolate. Esteba says without the joy, without the ofrendas, the dead may not come back. “This ofrenda is the essence—its part of [why] they come,” he says. “What do they come to eat? Their bread, their chocolate.” Catarano Cardova decorates his family grave with candles and flowers in Panteon Viejo Xoxocotlán.Photograph by Stephanie FodenLuciana Melgar Alcantar and her grandaughter eat pan de muerto at their family's grave in Panteón Xoxocotlán. Families often place their dead loved one’s favorite meal on their altar so they can eat side by side. Families often place their dead loved one’s favorite meal on their altar so they can eat side by side and fruit decorate an altar in Oaxaca's zocalo dressed as a skeleton stands on a grave in Panteón Xoxocotlán is the Day of the Dead’s most iconic symbol Rey Baltazer sits on a grave decorated with candles and flowers in Panteon Viejo Xoxocotlán on Day of the Dead when people of all ages paint their faces to resemble calaveras Luciana Melgar Alcantar and her grandaughter eat pan de muerto at their family's grave in Panteón Xoxocotlán Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Read our latest news on any of these social networks We will send you breaking news right to your inbox