Group of women searchers find 13 bodies in NW Mexico

By Sierra Juarez

QUERETARO, Mexico (AA) – A group of women searchers in Sonora state in northwestern Mexico found 13 bodies near the resort town Puerto Penasco late Thursday.

One of the bodies seems to be recent, and two of the bodies appeared like they could be women, according to the state’s attorney general’s office. Prosecutors in the northern border state said they are now performing DNA tests on the bodies in order to find the cause of death and to try and identify them.

Throughout the country, family members of disappeared people organize search parties, like the women’s group known as Searchers of Puerto Penasco, in order to try and find their lost family members.

It is estimated that at least 37,000 people are missing right now in Mexico, and another at least 26,000 bodies have yet to be identified.

With the overwhelming number of disappeared people, the Mexican government is stretched thin and does not have the resources to conduct in-depth searches. The families often fill in the gap.

The attorney general’s office announced on its Facebook that it has formalized a relationship with the group of women searchers.

“They will never again be alone in this big task they perform,” the attorney general’s office wrote on Facebook, adding that they will provide protection and technical advice to the group.