Nine bodies, believed to be the remains of missing students, were discovered dismembered on the side of a Mexican highway earlier this week.
The remains of four women and five men, originally from Tlaxcala, were found in San José Miahuatlán, in the state of Puebla, in an abandoned Volkswagen Vento, according to Central Puebla Irreverente.
The outlet reported that four of the bodies were found in the trunk, while five bodies and a bloody tarp were found inside the vehicle. A bag with eight pairs of hands and two more hands in the trunk were also reportedly recovered.
Idamis Pastor Betancourt, head of the State Attorney General’s Office, said she could not confirm nor deny the identities of the victims due to the ongoing investigation and “confidentiality” concerns.
“All relevant investigations are being carried out. When we have a response and the investigation is complete, we will be in a position to provide more information,” Betancourt said Monday during a press conference.
Two of the victims were identified by their ID cards as women reported missing in Oaxaca on Feb. 28. Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia, 29, was previously identified by the Oaxaca attorney general as traveling with Brenda Mariel Salas Moya in a Ford Fiesta with Yucatan plates. The latter woman was initially reported missing before being found alive in Puebla.
The second identified victim, 21-year-old Lesly Noya Trejo, was identified on Facebook by Yolanda Carrillo Garcia, a city official from Tetla, Tlaxcala.
Others reported missing by the Oaxaca attorney general include Raúl Emmanuel González Lozano and Noemí Yamileth Lopez Moratilla, both 28, who were last seen at Zipolite Beach in San Pedro Pochutla on Feb. 28.
The mother of 23-year-old Jacqueline Ailet Meza, another missing person, wrote on Facebook last week that her daughter was “taken” from “a beach in Huatulco, called Zipolite,” according to El País.
The nine people reported missing are said to range in age from 19 to 30. They had all traveled to beaches in Oaxaca, though its unclear how many of them knew each other.