Hundreds Of Bodies Found Stacked At Suspicious Crematorium Near US-Mexico Border
Local police uncovered the chilling scene inside a private crematorium located in Ciudad Juarez, a city in northern Mexico. Officials described the facility as neglected and in poor condition, with the remains stacked inside a warehouse-style building.
Initial reports stated that authorities had recovered 383 bodies along with six sets of partial remains. Investigators are still combing through the facility, so that number may rise.
Eloy Garcia, the communications coordinator from the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office, told AFP that the bodies had been “deposited irregularly in the crematorium, which were not cremated.”
Garcia went on to describe the horrific way the bodies had been handled. He said they were “just thrown like that, indiscriminately, one on top of the other, on the floor.”
Investigators have identified the crematorium as part of the “Plenitud” chain, which provided services to about six or seven nearby funeral homes, raising questions about oversight.
Several of the corpses still had hospital tags attached, showing names and social security numbers. Javier Sánchez Herrera, Director of Forensic Services and Sciences, confirmed this detail. Garcia added that in some cases, families were given completely different materials instead of their loved ones’ ashes.
Both suspects are being held in pretrial detention until their court hearing scheduled for July 4.
State Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno shared a statement: “The Judge granted the preventive detention requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that these individuals can continue their proceedings in prison. This ensures that they can not only address the economic damage they inflicted on many families, but also determine the terms of reparation for the damages for many of them, who are being revictimized by the pain they had already, in some ways, healed.”
“We will seek the highest possible penalty for those responsible. We will conduct a thorough investigation, seeking to minimize the re-victimization of families already experiencing this.” he said.
