Author of the article:

MEXICO CITY — Prosecutors in Mexico confirmed Friday that six women who went missing on March 7 were killed and their bodies burned by a gang of armed men.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Don't have an account? Create Account

It was one of the largest collective killings of a group of women in recent years in Mexico.

From our newsroom to your inbox at noon, the latest headlines, stories, opinion and photos from the Toronto Sun.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

The women disappeared earlier this month on a road near the city of Celaya in the farming and industrial state of Guanajuato. Relatives had held out hope they might be found alive.

But state prosecutor Carlos Zamarripa said Friday that experts had found skeletal remains “almostly completely burned” in raids on several properties Thursday. The amount of bone fragments found — Zamarripa said they were “hundreds” — suggests the women’s bodies were burned and the bones were ground up and scattered, a common drug cartel tactic.

“They took the six women to Juventino Rosas, where they later killed them,” Zamarripa said. He said the motive for the killings was still under investigation.

DNA tests matched five of the missing women, and more test were being conducted.

Nearly two dozen guns, explosives and thousands of doses of drugs were also found at the properties, he said. The plastic-wrapped body of a male kidnap victim was also found at one of the properties.

Zamarripa said 14 men arrested in connection with that and other killings. At least five of the suspects were from the northern border state of Tamaulipas, and one of them was a Honduran man.

Tamaulipas is split between the Gulf cartel and the Northeast Cartel. It was not clear what either group would be doing in Guanajuato, which is hundreds of miles to the south.

Authorities had posted search bulletins for the six women on March 9, and had said for more than a week they hoped to find them alive.

For years, the industrial and farming hub of Guanajuato has been Mexico’s most violent state, with the Jalisco cartel waging a turf war there against local gangs, including the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which is apparently being supported by the much larger Sinaloa cartel.

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.