Mexico: 5 University Students Found Dead, Bodies Stuffed Inside Vehicle on Dirt Road

The bodies of five university students were discovered stuffed in a vehicle on a dirt road in north-central Mexico.

The victims, all young men, were found in a rural area on the outskirts of Celaya, a city plagued by drug cartel violence in recent years. The bodies showed signs of violence, and all victims had been shot in the head, as per CBS News.

University Students Found Dead, Stuffed in Vehicle

MEXICO-CRIME-VIOLENCE-EXPLOSIVES-ATTACK — Members of the Mexican Army work at the site of an explosive attack against a police patrol in Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, a suburb at the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco State, Mexico on July 12, 2023. An explosives attack on a police patrol left six people dead and a dozen wounded in one of the regions of Mexico worst hit by drug cartel-related violence, authorities said Wednesday. ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images

The victims have been officially identified as José Freire, Bryan Amoles, Jesús Orozco, Fabián Orozco, and their cousin, Pedro Mateos. The tragic news has been officially confirmed by the Latina University of Mexico, a college where the enrolled students were attending.

In a statement, the university expressed profound regret and strongly denounced the violence that occurred. It was revealed that three of the victims were on the verge of graduating, a fact that prompted the university to postpone classes on Monday.

The horrifying incident unfolded on Sunday night when the National Guard located the victims on a rural road on the outskirts of Celaya. The students had last been heard from around 2 pm on Sunday when one of them informed their family that they were returning to Celaya after a weekend party in the nearby state of Queretaró.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, with authorities analyzing cell phone records that place the students near the towns of La Cruz and Santa Rosa de Lima. It remains unclear whether the students were murdered at the scene where their bodies were abandoned, according to Daily Mail.

Security Measures Intensify in Mexico

In a separate and equally tragic incident, a sixth student was found dead on Monday night, with details about the victim yet to be released. The escalation of violence has prompted authorities to implement an exhaustive operation to reinforce security in the region and apprehend those responsible.

The victims, all studying various medical specialties, had promising futures ahead of them. The mother of two of the victims, Jesús Orozco and Fabián Orozco is a former director at the National System for Integral Family Development's center in Celaya. Jesús Orozco was pursuing a career in surgery, while his brother Fabián had just started school.

The city of Celaya has been a hotspot for drug cartel violence, with incidents escalating in recent years. The region witnessed a car bomb attack in June, targeted at law enforcement and carried out by the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, which is engaged in a fierce turf war with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel for control of Guanajuato.

As the investigation unfolds, the community mourns the loss of these young lives, and authorities are under pressure to bring the perpetrators to justice swiftly. The tragic incident serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges posed by drug-related violence in the region, The Messenger reported.