Two individuals have been apprehended following the shocking discovery of nearly 400 corpses accumulated near the border between the United States and Mexico.
Law enforcement officials uncovered the macabre scene at a private crematorium located in Ciudad Juarez, northern Mexico. As per official statements, the facility was described as ‘neglected’, with the bodies found stacked within a warehouse compound.
Initial reports indicated that 383 bodies were discovered, along with six partial remains, as investigations into the warehouse continue.
None of the bodies had been cremated as was promised. Among the bodies that have been successfully retrieved, 218 are identified as male, 149 as female, and 16 remain undetermined, according to forensic officials.
Eloy Garcia, the communications coordinator for the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office, informed AFP that the bodies had been ‘irregularly deposited in the crematorium, which were not cremated’.
Authorities are still probing this disturbing discovery in Mexico (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images).
He remarked that the bodies had been ‘just thrown like that, indiscriminately, one on top of the other, on the floor’.
It is understood that all the bodies had been embalmed but not cremated, with authorities suspecting that some may have been left there for as long as two years before their discovery (via CBS News).
An ongoing investigation revealed that the crematorium was a ‘Plenitud’, which had been providing cremation services to six or seven local funeral homes.
Some of the bodies were also found with tags from hospitals that included their names and social security numbers, as stated by Javier Sánchez Herrera, the Director of Forensic Services and Sciences. Garcia further mentioned that the relatives of the deceased were provided with ‘other materials’.
He added that José Luis Arellano Cuaron and Facundo MR, the owner and employee respectively, were arrested under a warrant and charged with burial, exhumation, and disrespect for corpses or human remains, to the detriment of society.
He went on to state that José Luis Arellano Cuaron and Facundo MR, who serve as the owner and employee, respectively, were apprehended under an arrest warrant and are facing charges related to burial, exhumation, and the disrespect of corpses or human remains, which is detrimental to society.
Currently, they are in pretrial detention awaiting their hearing scheduled for July 4.
Reports indicate that the bodies were embalmed, and relatives were provided with counterfeit ashes (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images).
State Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno remarked: “The Judge has approved the preventive detention requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, allowing these individuals to continue their legal proceedings while incarcerated. This measure ensures that they can not only address the financial harm they have caused to numerous families but also establish the terms for reparations for many of them, who are being re-victimized by the pain they had previously begun to heal.”
The families of the deceased have also conferred with the State Attorney General, who has assured them that they will receive ‘comprehensive care and support in their decisions regarding their loved ones’.
“We will pursue the maximum possible penalty for those accountable. We will carry out a comprehensive investigation, aiming to reduce the re-victimization of families who are already enduring this hardship,” he stated.
