- By Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC News
3 hours ago
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Authorities found the body of Luis Martín Sánchez near the town of Tepic on Saturday
The body of a correspondent for one of Mexico’s leading newspapers has been found in the western state of Nayarit, days after he was reported missing.
Luis Martín Sánchez Íñiguez, 59, worked for La Jornada and has been missing since Wednesday.
His death is being treated as a murder related to his work in one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.
Mr. Sánchez is one of three journalists kidnapped in the state in recent days.
His body was found on Saturday in the village of El Ahuacate near the city of Tepic, prosecutors said – a day after his wife filed a missing persons report.
Two messages were attached to his chest, but the authorities did not reveal the contents of them.
It is believed that Mr Sánchez was killed between 24 and 48 hours before his body was found.
His disappearance came a day after a teacher and former reporter went missing on his way to work. The whereabouts of the man named Osiris remain unknown.
The third person missing was a man named Jonathan, who authorities said was abducted on Friday but later found alive and “in good health”.
Mr. Sánchez’s death has sparked outrage both in Mexico and internationally. The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights has asked the authorities to investigate the incident.
“We demand justice for Mexican journalists!” the group wrote on social media.
The American branch of the Committee to Protect Journalists is among other human rights groups that have also condemned the killing.
Mr. Sánchez is not the first journalist to be targeted in Mexico this year.
José Ramiro Araujo, a news photographer, was killed in northern Baja California in February. La Jornada said at least four other people were also killed.
Press freedom organizations have consistently ranked Mexico as one of the most dangerous places to work for journalists.
Many of the targets are covering up corruption or powerful drug cartels, and activists say the killings are rarely fully solved
According to the international interest group Reporters Without Borders, almost 150 journalists have been murdered there since 2000.