Missing Mexican journalist’s body found ‘with signs of violence’

The body of a Mexican journalist missing for days has been found in the state of Nayarit, according to the state public prosecutor’s office.

Luis Martín Sanchez Iniguez worked for the newspaper La Jornada. He had been missing since Wednesday and his wife filed a missing persons report with the authorities on Friday.His body was found on the outskirts of the city of Tepic on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear how the 59-year-old journalist died, but authorities estimated his death occurred 24 to 48 hours before his body was found.

“The body was found with signs of violence, and two handwritten signs were found on it,” the prosecutor said in a statement, without revealing what the messages said.

Handwritten signs are frequently left by drug cartels with the bodies of victims, but the office said the motive for the killing was still under investigation.

Another media worker was reported missing on July 4. He has not been seen since he left for work at a school the prior morning, authorities said. Mexican media identified him as Osiris Maldonado, who previously worked with La Jornada.

On July 7, two hooded armed men broke into the apartment of journalist Jonathan Lora Ramirez and forced him into a car. He was found “in a good state of health”, authorities said, adding they were investigating the crime of illegal detention.

Nayarit authorities said they immediately opened investigations once the cases were reported, and they are following special protocols for journalists and human rights defenders.

“In accordance with what is established provisions into the applicable protocols, it is necessary to take into consideration the activities of the victims who put them at a greater degree of vulnerability,” the public prosecutor’s office of Nayarit said in a statement.