Roberto Carlos Olmeda Cuellar, Uriel Galvan Gonzalez, Diego Alberto Lara Santoyo.Photo:Facebook
Warning: This story contains graphic content
A young man in Mexico may have been forced to kill his friends after they were allegedly kidnapped in the western state of Jalisco, according to multiple reports, citing Mexican investigators.
Childhood friends Jaime Adolfo Martínez Miranda, Dante Cedillo Hernández, Diego Alberto Lara Santoyo, Roberto Olmeda Cuellar and Uriel Galván González were last heard from on August 11 in Jalisco, Mexico, according to Spanish media outletEl País.
On Thursday investigators said they had discovered four decapitated and badly burned bodies that might be related to the five kidnapped youths, one of whom was filmed apparently being forced to kill the others, according toCBS NewsandMexico News Daily. The bodies are yet to be officially identified.
The friends, who are aged between 19 and 22 years old, had reportedly attended a festival in the city of Lagos de Moreno, CBS News reports. According toEl País, they were last heard from at 10:55 p.m., when they said they were heading home.
Jaime Adolfo Martinez Miranda, Dante Cedillo Hernandez.Facebook
View of the house where allegedly five young men were murdered in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco State, Mexico, on August 17, 2023.ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty
ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty
According toEl País, the horrifying video was broadcast in Mexico and showed two of the young men lying face down with their T-shirts covered in blood, while another one of the kidnapped victims was apparently being forced to stab and beat one of the others. CBS also reported that the video showed someone off-screen throwing a brick to one of the youths to use it against another. Per the outlet, officials in Jalisco said they were investigating the video, but believe the video showed a link to a cartel in the city.
The five friends were last heard from on August 11.ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Before the bodies were found on Thursday, investigators had raided buildings on a ranch and found bloodstains and scattered shoes. According to CBS, the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement Wednesday, “This makes one think the five youths were there at this ranch.”
Meanwhile, in a news briefing on Wednesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the case was “very regrettable.”
According toEl País, at the time of their presumed abduction, Roberto Olmeda Cuellar, 20, was studying industrial engineering at the University of Guadalajara, Diego Lara Santoyo, 20, was working as a blacksmith with his father and was driving the group in his vehicle on the evening they disappeared. Uriel Galván González, 19, “is very happy, very friendly and close to his family,” his father told the outlet, and Dante Cedillo, 22, was a professional cyclist. Jaime Martínez Miranda, 21, was a bricklayer who was close to his family.
source: people.com
