Mutilated bodies of photographer and another man found in northern Mexico
The body of Mexican journalist Alonso De la Colina lies on a street in San Andres Cholula, in the central state of Puebla, on April 15, 2013. De la Colina was killed as he came out of a bank.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The dismembered bodies of a newspaper photographer and another man were found in Saltillo, a city in northern Mexico, on Wednesday, according to various media reports on Thursday.
The victims were identified as Daniel Martinez Bazaldua, 22, who recently joined the Vanguardia newspaper to cover social events, and Julian Alejandro Zamora Gracia, 23, Vanguardia reported.
Coahuila state authorities said a message left next to the severed parts indicated the two victims may have been former members of a drug gang.
Vanguardia denounced the accusations against the dead men as “sad and alarming,” and demanded authorities conduct a thorough investigation before jumping to conclusions.
“We think it is sad and alarming that Coahuila has become a state in which the authorities condemn murdered people, converting them into criminals, without offering the least evidence,” the newspaper said.
“Only a serious, professional investigation can find out the truth that society deserves.”
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders.
The Mexican National Human Rights Commission said in December that 82 reporters and photographers had been murdered and 18 others reported missing since 2005.