Mexican crime reporter found dead

A Mexican crime reporter named Victor Baez was kidnapped and killed by assailants, making him the sixth Mexican journalist to be killed in the past two months, Reuters reported. Baez refused to leave Mexico's Veracruz state, even as other journalists fled the city in fear of their lives. Baez left his office late Wednesday when he was kidnapped by three armed assailants. 

"Victor Baez's murderers committed a crime that hurt his family and all journalists. Their aim is to intimidate society," Gina Dominguez, spokeswoman for Veracruz state government, told Reuters.

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Baez's death comes just one week after state governor Javier Duarte announced that the government was creating a special commission to protect journalists, BBC News reported.

Baez covered the police beat for the Milenio newspaper and also worked for a website called Reporteros Policiacos. While it's not clear who exactly is behind his death, officials believe that it was an organized crime gang, the BBC said. 

Journalists have been particularly hard-hit by Mexico's drug war. In total, some 78 Mexican journalists are estimated to have been murdered since 2000, EFE reported. The news of Baez's death comes soon after another police reporter disappeared. Last Friday, Stephania Cardoso, a police reporter for the daily El Zocalo, disappeared along with her 2-year-old son.