MEXICO CITY, May 23 (UPI) — Mexican authorities on Monday began to exhume the bodies of about 116 people believed to be victims of drug cartel and gang violence who were killed between 2010 and 2013 and buried in a mass grave.
The authorities, led by the attorney general’s office for Mexico’s Morelos state, will take DNA samples as exhumation efforts proceed in the town of Tetelcingo.
“Out of respect for the families of the missing, the attorney general of the state of Morelos began exhumation and genetic sampling process of the bodies in Tetelcingo,” the government of the state of Morelos said in a statement.
“The Tetelcingo case is an example of coordination between authorities, organizations for the defense of human rights and civil society.”
A preliminary investigation has determined none of the 88 bodies already tested has matched a registry of missing people. More thorough examinations will be carried out.
“As to dignify the victims and provide certainty, it was decided to carry out the process of exhumation and genetic sampling of all the bodies,” the attorney general of the state of Morelos said in a statement.
