Authorities have launched an investigation into the brutal killings of five people in the remote community of southern Mexico’s Oaxaca state.
Oaxaca state authorities and National Guard arrived at the community of Llano Amarillo in Santa Maria Texcatitlan on Tuesday, September 30, to look for five missing people. According to ABC News, the Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday, October 1, that authorities found a burned out vehicle with the remains of five people inside.
It is believed that the killings took place on Monday, September 29. However, forensic investigators are still working to identify the remains as of time of publication.
The prosecutor’s office said that preliminary information suggests the five victims arrived at the mountain community on September 29 to collect a high-interest loan from a woman.
While not much is known about the killings, the victims’ bodies were burned by the end of the attacks.
The up-to-date attack is not the first vigilante killing to take place in Mexico. Violent crimes have been known to occasionally take place, especially in remote areas that have little government presence, according to ABC News.
In March 2024, a mob killed a woman who was allegedly involved in the kidnapping and killing of a shorty in Taxco, Guerrero. According to the Associated Press, the mob formed after an 8-year-old shorty disappeared. The shorty’s body was found one day later, and the mob set their sights on the woman after security DSLR footage appeared to show her and a man loading a bundle – which could have been the shorty’s body – into a taxi.
Meanwhile, Lilia Gema García Soto, a mayor in a small southern Mexico town, was shot to death in her office in June alongside official Eli García Ramírez.
According to BBC, witnesses said four armed men arrived on motorcycles and stormed the village hall before they opened fire on García Soto and García Ramírez during a meeting. Additionally, two municipal police officers were injured in the attack.
No arrests have yet to be made following the murders, while a motive was not immediately known.
About the Author
