Authorities discovered the mutilated bodies of nine students, who disappeared while on a beach holiday in southern Mexico, along a highway on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
The bodies were found in San Jose Miahuatlan, a municipality positioned on the boundary between the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca, about 150 miles southeast of Mexico City. Four bodies were found inside a deserted vehicle’s trunk, and another five were found under a blood-soaked tarp nearby.
Alarmingly, investigators also discovered a bag at the scene containing 16 severed hands, with an additional two hands left in the vehicle’s trunk, as reported by Periodico Central.
The victims, identified as four women and five men aged between 19 and 30, all displayed signs of torture and gunshot wounds, according to El Financiero. The group was reported missing on February 27 after they traveled from their hometown of Tlaxcala to vacation at the beaches in Oaxaca state.
Authorities found a dark gray Volkswagen Vento with Tlaxcala-registered license plates on Sunday afternoon. Surveillance footage revealed that this vehicle was seen traveling along the Atlixcayotl highway near Atlixco, Puebla, on February 24—about 90 miles west of the location where the remains were discovered.
Most victims have been identified through ID cards and other means: Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia, Leslie Noya Trejo, Jacqueline Ailet Meza, Noemi Yamileth Lopez Moratilla, Raul Emmanuel González Lozano, Ruben Antonio, and Rolando Armando. Brenda Mariel Salas Moya was later found alive in Puebla, according to a Facebook post. Two bodies were not identified at the time of reporting.
“So far, I cannot offer information. During a press conference, there are lines of investigation, but I cannot reveal them due to confidentiality,” stated Idamis Pastor Betancourt, the head of Puebla’s State Attorney General’s Office.
While initial reports identified all the victims as students, there are unconfirmed suggestions that they might have had links to criminal organizations.
The Puebla Attorney General’s Office is working with counterparts from Tlaxcala and Oaxaca to identify those behind the murders. As the investigation is still ongoing, no suspects have been publicly identified.
According to reports, Jacqueline Ailet Meza was reportedly “taken” from a beach in Huatulco, Oaxaca, but the circumstances remain unknown. Other victims, including Raul Emmanuel González Lozano and Noemi Yamileth Lopez Moratilla, were also reported missing from the same area.
The heinous crime has left local communities in shock. However, violent crime is a recurring issue across Mexico. Statistics indicate that Mexico recorded about 30,000 murders in 2023, marking the most violent year in recent Mexican history, with many homicides tied to drug cartel activity.
This case has drawn parallels to other high-profile disappearances in Mexico, such as the notorious 2014 kidnapping of 43 male students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in Guerrero state. Despite extensive investigations, this case remains unresolved, implicating local police, drug cartels, and possibly military members.
A truth commission examining the 2014 Ayotzinapa case ultimately labeled it a “crime of the state,” indicating systematic cover-ups and the involvement of various levels of government. However, no evidence currently links the recent case to prior disappearances.
Disappearances in Mexico have escalated into a crisis, with over 110,000 people reported missing nationwide, according to human rights organizations. Many of these cases remain unresolved, leaving families in a state of perpetual search amidst a culture of violence and impunity.
The investigation into the recent case is still underway, with forensic teams further examining the crime scene and remains as police continue to collect evidence and identify potential witnesses.
