Jacqueline Ailet Meza was vacationing with friends on the coast of Mexico at the end of February when she vanished.
“My daughter disappeared last night on a beach in Huatulco, called Zipolite,” Meza’s distraught mother reportedly wrote on Facebook on Feb. 28, according to El País. “They took her and until now we know nothing about my daughter.” Meza, who had two young children, ages 5 and 3, “waiting for her,” was “taken from a food place near the same beach,” her mother wrote.
Days later, on Sunday, March 2, authorities made a grisly discovery when they found the remains of four women, including one believed to be Meza, and five men from Tlaxcala, in central Mexico, inside a dark gray Volkswagen Vento, El Financieroreported.
I The abandoned sedan was found on the side of the highway in San José Miahuatlán, near the border of the states of Puebla and Oaxaca, on the coast, according to El Financiero.
Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia’s Car.
Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca Facebook
Authorities are investigating, but have said little about the horrific slayings.
Mystery continues to swirl about how these young people ended up dismembered in a car on the side of a highway in Mexico.
Here’s What To Know:
What Exactly Did Authorities Find?
The car had four bodies in the trunk, Central Puebla Irreverente reports. On the side of the car was a blood-stained tarp covering five more bodies, per the outlet.
Another terrifying discovery: a bag containing eight pairs of hands, according to El Pais. Two more hands were found in the trunk.
Removing the bodies took several hours, Central Puebla Irreverente reports.
Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia; Lesly Noya Trejo.
Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca Facebook; Attorney General for Missing Persons from Tlaxcala Facebook
Who Were the Victims?
At a press conference on Monday, March 3, Idamis Pastor Betancourt, head of the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), declined to name the victims.
Two of the bodies were identified from their ID cards, according to Central Puebla Irreverente: Angie Lizeth P.G., 29, who was reported missing from Santa María Huatulco in Oaxaca on Feb. 28, and Leslie N.T., 21, reported missing from San Pedro Pochutla in Oaxaca on Feb. 28.
Angie Lizeth P.G. was previously identified by the Oaxaca Attorney General as Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia. “According to reports received, Angie Lizeth Perez Garcia and Brenda Mariel Salas Moya were last seen on February 27, 2025, in Santa Maria Huatulco,” the Oaxaca AG said in a Facebook post. “They were traveling aboard a 2016 Ford Fiesta vehicle, with Yucatan State license plates.”
Moya was later found alive in Puebla, according to the post, which did not include any more details about her.
Raúl Emmanuel González Lozano and Noemí Yamileth Lopez Moratilla, both 28, were last seen on February 28 at Zipolite Beach, in San Pedro Pochutla, according to the Oaxaca AG.
Others reported missing are identified as Rubén Antonio N., and Rolando Armando N, per Central Puebla Irreverente.
What Happened to These Young People?
The circumstances surrounding the grisly discovery remain mysterious.
The Volkswagen was captured on CCTV footage on Feb. 24, driving along the Atlixcayotl highway near the town of Atlixco, approximately 90 miles west of where the remains were found, per Central Puebla Irreverente.
Bullet holes and visible signs of torture were found on the bodies, according to local media.
What are authorities doing?
Local authorities continue to investigate. They have not discussed motive. No suspects have been arrested.
At the press conference on Monday, Betancourt said, “All relevant investigations are being carried out. When we have a response and the investigation is complete, we will be in a position to provide more information.”
In an update on Thursday, March 6, the Oaxaca Prosecutor General’s Office wrote on Facebook, that it is investigating the potential involvement of local police in the missing persons case.
The shocking crime has only increased concerns for tourists’ safety in Mexico.
