Mexico. 11 bodies in a truck abandoned on the highway in Chilpancingo, among them children

The Guerrero state attorney general's office said in a statement Thursday that the bodies of 11 people were found in a van on a highway in the city of Chilpancingo. Investigators said that the report of an abandoned car was received on Wednesday evening, and after arriving at the site and examining the vehicle, they found the bodies.

According to local media, local residents and passers-by were concerned about the van because it was emitting an unpleasant odor. The “Infobae” website writes that the bodies were in a state of decomposition and that they were in the back of the vehicle. A murder investigation was initiated.

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On Friday, the prosecutor's office announced that the bodies found belong to two women, five men and four children from Chautipan and that their identities were known. The services confirmed that these people are part of a larger group whose remaining members are still wanted.

“El Pais” reported earlier that the discovery of the bodies may be related to the disappearance of a 17-member family at the end of October. Some of its members did not return from work, and the others started looking for them and also disappeared. Investigators announced a reward of one million pesos (approx. PLN 200,000) for help in finding this group, but it did not help in the search. According to military commander Jorge Pedro Nieto Sánchez, a local criminal group known as Los Ardillos may be behind the family's disappearance.

Guerrero is one of the most violent states Mexico due to its location on the drug smuggling route along the Pacific coast. In turn, Chilpancingo, with a population of 280,000, is the site of fighting between the Los Ardillos and Los Tlacos drug gangs. He stayed in the city a few weeks ago its mayor was brutally murderedAlejandro Arcos, 43, just six days after taking office.

Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, pledged to reduce violence and presented a security plan. Since October 1 alone, there have been 2,638 confirmed murders in the country.