The Attorney General of Zacatecas, Cristian Camacho Osnaya, reported that, as of Saturday afternoon, it had been confirmed that six of the seven bodies found in the municipality of Tepezalá, Aguascalientes, were those of people originally from Zacatecas, including two women.
In an interview, the Zacatecas Attorney General emphasized that, due to the close collaboration between the two state prosecutors’ offices, the identification process was achieved through reports filed by the victims’ families, photographic descriptions, and examination of specific tattoos found on the bodies.
He stated that the identification of the seventh body is still pending, but that this falls under the jurisdiction of the Aguascalientes Attorney General’s Office, as does the investigation into the discovery of the bodies. He reiterated the close collaboration between the two governments; he even mentioned that an operation was deployed yesterday in the southeastern region and the border area between the two states, with the objective of locating those responsible for the cases being investigated by Aguascalientes.
Camacho Osnaya also clarified that, of all the cases, only one report of kidnapping had been filed in Zacatecas on April 17th, in the community of Cieneguillas in the capital city.
He explained that, although a missing person report was created and uploaded to the National Search Platform, the family did not authorize its public dissemination. Therefore, it was not circulated on the Zacatecas Attorney General’s social media accounts.
Three more reports were received just yesterday afternoon, after the discovery of the seven bodies in the community of Mesillas, in Tepezalá, Aguascalientes, was announced. It was then that families began reporting their missing relatives.
He emphasized that none of the reports were for kidnapping; they simply stated that their whereabouts were unknown and provided the dates of last sighting as April 26th, 20th, and 29th.
He said that, after gathering these reports, communication was established with authorities in Aguascalientes, providing photographs and distinguishing features, such as tattoos, which aided in identification.
Prosecutor Cristian Camacho warned that this case has also revealed that organized crime is not only using Facebook pages to spread false information, but has also usurped the functions and activities of the authorities, as they are issuing fraudulent missing persons reports.
This was confirmed yesterday when families came to report the disappearances and mentioned that some of them had learned through social media that their relatives apparently had missing persons reports, but they were worried because they hadn’t filed any reports themselves, as they were unaware of the authorities’ activities and didn’t know when their loved ones disappeared.
This situation alerted investigating authorities, as they identified five missing person posters posted on a Facebook page on the night of April 30th. However, they discovered these posters were fraudulent, since the Alba Protocol logo was used not only on the posters for women but also on those for men.
The prosecutor acknowledged that this confirms organized crime is profiting from and usurping the activities of the authorities by generating fraudulent missing person posters: “It is striking that they create them with specific data, including photographs, names, characteristics, distinguishing features, and even the location where the person went missing,” he said. He added that personal data is being used and reiterated that the Prosecutor’s Office cannot distribute the posters without the consent of the family members.
Similarly, he stated that he has seen that the same page, linked to criminal groups, is spreading “false information,” claiming that the missing victims were allegedly abducted by investigative units and personnel from the Attorney General’s Office and the Zacatecas State Police’s Immediate Reaction Force (FRIZ).
However, he said that investigations have ruled out this version, confirming that there is a report from April 29 regarding an abduction in La Zacatecana, in the municipality of Guadalupe. However, a review of the videos shows that private vehicles were involved.
Therefore, he urged the public to be cautious of information being disseminated on pages or profiles linked to criminal groups.
Source: vanguardia
