MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities found the body of a missing priest Monday in Mexico’s violence-torn southern state of Guerrero, the same area where a retired bishop who had tried to mediate between local cartels was kidnapped last year.
The state prosecutor’s office announced the discovery in a statement identifying the deceased only as Bertoldo N and said they were investigating his death as a homicide.
The diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa reported the disappearance of Rev. Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada on Saturday, and the church where he worked confirmed in a statement late Monday that the body had been identified as the missing priest and thanked everybody who helped to find him.
The 58-year-old priest was the pastor of the San Cristobal church in the town of Mezcala, an area with high levels of violence due to the presence of multiple criminal groups. The same region is where 43 teaching students disappeared more than a decade ago in a crime that remains unsolved.
The Jesuits of Mexico issued a statement mourning Pantaleón’s death and demanding more details. It was not immediately clear how he was killed or who was behind his death.
