Two members of the Guerreros Buscadores civil search group, who helped uncover a site now known as Mexico’s “ranch of horror,” were shot and killed Wednesday night in Jalisco state, authorities said Thursday.
Maria del Carmen Morales, 43, and her son Jaime Ramirez, 26, were attacked by two gunmen on a motorcycle in the town of Teuchitlán, according to the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office.
Morales died after trying to defend her son during the assault. The suspects have not been identified.
Morales and Ramirez had been instrumental in the March discovery of bones, clothing, and shoes at a suspected cartel training camp outside Guadalajara, an area linked to the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The grim find drew national attention to the forced recruitment tactics used by criminal groups in Mexico, where more than 124,000 people are officially listed as missing.
Despite Morales’s involvement in the discovery, the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office stated there was no evidence linking her murder to her search activities. Guerreros Buscadores called for an “immediate and thorough investigation” in a statement posted online.
“Unfortunately, [Morales] had already been threatened several times,” said Raul Servin, a representative for Guerreros Buscadores. “It’s sad and painful that these things are happening. All we families want is to find our loved ones.”
Morales and Ramirez had been actively searching for a family member who disappeared in February 2024, the group said. Their deaths follow the killing of another Guerreros Buscadores member, Teresa Gonzalez, who was searching for her missing brother earlier this month.
Civil search collectives, often formed by relatives of the missing, regularly face threats and violence, particularly in cartel-dominated areas like Jalisco.
