Mexican environmental activist found dead

By Sierra Juarez

QUERETARO, Mexico (AA) – Environmental activist Homero Gomez Gonzalez was found dead Wednesday, according to the attorney general’s office in Michoacan state, Mexico.

Gomez Gonzalez was known for leading efforts to preserve the forests of Michoacan in central-eastern Mexico, where Monarch butterflies spend the winter. He was one of the managers of El Rosario, a Monarch butterfly reserve.

He went missing on Jan. 14, and suspicions immediately began to circulate that his disappearance was due to his activism.

Since then, local media reported that illegal loggers, who were against his conservation efforts, may have caused his disappearance.

The attorney general’s office has not yet released details about where his body was found or the circumstances surrounding his death.

El Rosario is the largest and most visited reserve in Mexico. It is home to Monarch butterflies that made their way down to Mexico from Canada.

The butterflies depend on the oyamel fir trees in the region, where they roost for the winter on their branches.