Investigators have found 383 complete corpses and six partial remains at the property in the Mexico-US border town of Juarez, where it’s thought “unscrupulous” owners had been defrauding grieving relatives
Hundreds of decomposing corpses have been found inside a residential property on the Mexico-US border.
Investigators have discovered a grim stack of 383 complete cadavers and six partial remains in a non-descript building at a site in Juarez, Mexico. Initial findings suggest that some of the bodies discovered at the property could have been dead as long as four years.
On Thursday, authorities were tipped off to the house of horrors, which looks more like a home than a mortuary.
Most of the bodies appear to have undergone the embalming process, with questions being raised as to why they had not been buried or incinerated, according to Mexican authorities.
The property is owned by Jose Luis Arellano Cuaron, who is being charged alongside one of his employees for improper disposal of bodies.
The corpse’s cause of death have not yet been ascertained but post mortems will be performed to ensure they were not murdered.
Officials believe six different funeral homes had been sending the cadavers to the property in the border city – which is opposite from El Paso in Texas. Relatives of the victims claim to have been given “ashes” after their funeral, believing their loved ones had been properly laid to rest.
“They constantly received bodies for cremation,” Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui said. “They misrepresented hundreds of times to funeral companies they would be cremating those bodies.”
Initial enquiries revealed the owner had three licenses allowing him to operate a funeral home. The state’s governor said the “irresponsible and unscrupulous” creamtorium owner was misusing these licenses and permits.
Some families hope for closure after the disappearance and suspected murder of hundreds of people in the city – which has been a hotbed of cartel violence. There have also been reports of migrants awaiting entry to the US being kidnapped.
Yadira Cortez, a representative from the Ciudad Juárez Women’s Roundtable Network told KFOX: “Of course, all the families and we ourselves were worried and wondered who is there? What bodies are there? Are they identified?”
The state of Chihuaha, where the crematorium is located, has opened a process for anyone who believes their loved one could be there. They’re told to take an ID, with descriptions of what they were last wearing and the funeral home their body was released to.