Mexican police find 19 bodies in remote mountain canyon

Mexico City, Dec 16: Authorities have found what they believe are at least 19 bodies tossed into a deep, narrow canyon in the violence-plagued southern state of Guerrero, two Mexican officials have said.

The federal officials said yesterday eight of the bodies had been partially burned, and two more were found in pieces. Authorities were not ruling out the possibility of finding more bodies at the site.

They said the bodies appear to have been dumped not buried between a month and a year-and-a-half ago. They were found in a gorge about 500 meters deep in a mountain area near the town of Chichihualco, west of the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo.

The officials said authorities received an anonymous tip about the dumping ground late last week. The bodies were found between Dec. 8 and Dec. 11 by a team of investigators researching the cases of more than 200 people who disappeared in the northern part of Guerrero state over the last several years.

The location and time frame would suggest the bodies were not those of 43 radical students who disappeared in Sept. 2014 The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be quoted by name. The mountainous area is dominated by drug gangs, and local farmers frequently grow opium poppies. There was no immediate information on the victims' age, gender, or what gang might have been involved in their deaths.

AP