The father of one of five friends who were tortured to death by a Mexican cartel for refusing to become hit men has claimed the burned bones found at the murder scene did not belong to them.
Video footage released Tuesday shows Roberto Olmeda, 20, a childhood friend; Diego Lara, 20; Uriel Galvan, 19; Dante Cedillo, 22; and Jaime Martínez, 21, kneeling side by side.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel filmed the men’s final moments and they are seen with tape around their mouths and bleeding and bruised faces.
Martinez’s father Juan Martínez said the burned bones found at the abandoned property where they were killed did not belong to them, Mexican newspaper El Occidental reported.
He confirmed the men were those in the video, but claimed that one person’s remains had a metal plate attached, used to hold broken pieces together. Juan said none of the men ever broke a bone. He also said one victim had dentures – but that none of the young men killed had false teeth.
The five childhood friends were abducted by cartel operatives on August 11 in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco. From left: Roberto Olmeda; Diego Lara; Uriel Galvan; Dante Cedillo; and Jaime Martinez
Investigators search an abandoned property in Jalisco, Mexico, where human remains were recovered on Wednesday
In the early hours of Monday, authorities found a burning vehicle with a body inside
Jamie Martinez’s father (pictured) said the burned bones found at the abandoned property where they were killed did not belong to them
The authorities showed photos of the murdered youths to their relatives, but did not recognize them.
“They showed us some photos showing four completely burned bodies, but it turned out they weren’t the children.” “None of them because we know them,” Juan said.
“They showed us dentures, they showed us an iron plate, the kind you put on people when they break.” [a bone] and they put screws on things they didn’t do.’
He added that the young men are athletes and none of them broke a single bone.
“So no, we don’t agree that it’s our kids.” No, they’re not,” he said.
DNA tests are being conducted to confirm the remains’ identity, but Juan says it gives him confidence to keep searching for the young men and believes they will find them.
“That encourages us to keep looking for them,” he said.
‘Keep looking and they won’t stop.’ They told us they wouldn’t stop until they found them.’
Police have not shown them a photo of the remains found in the trunk of Galván’s vehicle, which was found burned on the Lagos-Encarnación highway.
An emotional Juan confirmed that his son and friends are those seen in the horrific footage released by the cartel.
“Yes, they are. The five that appear there are gagged, yes they are. “Unfortunately, we recognized them in their parents’ heartbreak,” he said, fighting back tears.
“It feels very strong, you bend over.” The pain that I feel as a father and mother is very strong. Lets see what happens. First of all, let’s hope everything turns out well.’
The childhood friends, aged between 19 and 22, were last heard of on August 11 in the city of Lagos de Moreno, their hometown of 112,000 people, in the central Mexican state of Jalisco.
The five are believed to have been taken to this abandoned building in the Orilla del Agua neighborhood of their hometown
Diego Lara, 20, worked as a blacksmith in his father’s workshop. He was proud of his VW Jetta (pictured) and posted several photos of it on social media: The five friends were reportedly in the car when they were hijacked by the cartel. Police have found a burned-out Jetta while investigating the murders
Diego Lara (left) was the last student to be heard from. He texted his family to say he was going home at 11pm. Pictured right: Uriel Galvan, 19
Roberto Olmeda (left) was an industrial engineering student at the University of Guadalajara. He had been friends with cycling champion Dante Cedillo (right) since childhood.
Witnesses told journalist Hector De Mauleon that ten armed men took her out of her car in San Miguel and forced her into a white pickup and a van with tinted windows.
A horrifying video circulating on social media shows the men being forced to lie down and one of the five being ordered to beat, stab and behead him.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Attorney General’s Office found the property where the photo and video are said to have been taken in the La Orilla del Agua neighborhood.
Hours later, they identified a farm containing the charred remains of four people and are investigating whether the four bodies are those of the five missing youths.
A fifth body was found in the trunk of their burned-out brown Volkswagen Jetta, which was ablaze on the highway between Lagos de Moreno and Encarnacion Diaz early Monday.
Diego Lara drove a Jetta, which was his pride and joy. He regularly posted photos of it on social media.
On Thursday, it emerged that the five may have been lured to a meeting of cartel activists by promises of work and then told they had to join their ranks.
At least two of the five had contacted a person they knew on August 9 who had a contact at a call center and knew of a part-time job as a security guard.
Federal sources told El Universal newspaper that the five then arranged to meet their contact as part of the city’s annual celebrations honoring their patron saint.
The Lagos de Moreno Feria began on July 27th with the crowning of the city’s festival queen and ended on August 13th after two weeks of music, festivals, rodeos and bullfights.
On the evening of August 11th, the last boisterous weekend was in full swing with a concert by the popular Latin rock band Genitallica Plastiko.
They were last heard from at 10:55 p.m. when one of the five texted a relative that they were on their way home.
Investigators from the Jalisco State Attorney General’s Office found human remains in an abandoned property on Wednesday. The property could be the same one seen in a video showing the students in captivity
Diego Lara, 20. His sister Magalli Lara was among the first to sound the alarm, saying he was missing
Roberto Olmeda, 20, studied industrial engineering at the University of Guadalajara
Uriel Galvan was the youngest of the victims at 19
Dante Cedillo was a junior cycling champion, won gold at national championships in 2016 and has been a professional cyclist ever since
Sources told El Universal that one of the people they dated was a well-known member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which dominates the state.
The CJNG operates a number of call centers, federal sources told the newspaper, and uses them to forcibly recruit new cartel members.
The call centers post fake job offers at non-existent companies with attractive salaries and good benefits.
Once through the door, they’re ordered to work for the cartel or killed – and often sent on the most dangerous jobs, such as working at sites where a rival cartel is known to operate.
The majority of people recruited through the call centers come from the neighboring states of Jalisco, Michoacan, Colima, Nayarit, Guanajuato and Zacatecas.
David Saucedo Torres, a security analyst, told El Universal that the CNJG has built a network of these call centers.
“In the last two years, a number of training and recruitment centers have sprung up in different regions around Lagos de Moreno,” he said.
“They have made Lagos de Moreno an important operational site, especially for the recruitment and training of hit squads.”
Saucedo Torres said he believed the five were involved in the cartel’s recruiting campaign.
“The five young people who were kidnapped appear to be caught up in some sort of training program by the Jalisco cartel, which imposes tests on new recruits and forces them to carry out assassinations, by all indications.”
He said fugitives told how new forced recruits were hired to kill someone to prove their bravery, daring and loyalty to the cartel.
The security expert said he assumed, based on the footage, that one of the five was intended to kill one of the others as an initiation attempt.
“But eventually things started to go wrong and the killers decided to kill them all,” he added.
The building where the five are believed to have been tortured and killed
The building apparently contained bloodstains on the floor and the inscription: “Slaughter is the best medicine.” It also contained the tag MZ for Mayo Zambada, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel – the CJNG’s rival who is believed to have been who killed five
Saucedo Torres said he was surprised the video was leaked, but said it may have been released by an ally of the rival Sinaloa cartel to put the spotlight on the CJNG and make them a target of the federal government.
He said there was no doubt that the CJNG was “the material and intellectual author of the kidnapping and murder of the youth.”
He added, “To the Jalisco Cartel, Lagos de Moreno is critical for recruiting and capturing offspring to continue the war with Sinaloa for control of the region.”
Ten years ago, in July 2013, six young men were arrested under similar circumstances and their bodies were found days later.
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was accused Thursday of ignoring a question about the federal response to the killings, insisting he had not heard the question called out the day before.
He said he had nothing to apologize for as he had done nothing wrong.
Despite the anger, he paid little attention to the case Thursday, spending about a minute saying the murders were “very regrettable” while spending much more time discussing baseball.