The bodies were found Thursday morning in the municipality of Chilapa, in the same region of Guerrero as the teacher-training college from which students were abducted and killed. Chilapa authorities posted the information on the Municipal Ministry of Public Security’s official Facebook page.
Authorities said that “bodies were found on fire,” and that “when the police arrived, beheaded burning bodies were found,” Telesur quoted the police statement as saying. The police noted that the remains appeared to be of people who were between 20 and 25 years old, and that they had been mutilated and shot with automatic weapons. It is as yet unclear whether the bodies are in any way connected to the missing students, CNN explained. Police have yet to link any recently-found remains to the missing students, despite dozens of mass graves having been found since the massacre and at least 75 arrests made in connection with the disappearances.
The state of Guerrero is known for being one of the most violent states in the country. Dozens of mass graves have been found in the state over the course of the search for the 43 students. Earlier this month, the body of Ugandan missionary John Ssenyondo was also found in Chilapa in a mass grave alongside 12 other corpses.
The bodies were found just hours before Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was set to give a speech announcing a series of measures aimed at improving law and order in the country. The embattled Nieto announced a 10-point security plan amid heated criticism and protests about his government’s inability to deal with the intense levels of gang violence in his country, including a drug war which has claimed the lives of nearly 120,000 people, with over 27,000 reported missing.
