Four children from the same family who had been reported missing earlier this week were found dead in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, officials said.
A rural laborer discovered the corpses Friday in two shallow graves at a ranch in Tacotalpa, a municipality near Tabasco’s border with the neighboring state of Chiapas.
The state government said on Twitter that police and forensics personnel had been dispatched to the scene to “conduct the necessary investigations.”
The worker at the ranch, located in the village of Tapijulapa, reported the discovery of the bodies to local authorities, Tacotalpa Mayor Ulises Solis told Efe Friday.
“He saw that an arm was protruding from one of the two graves,” the mayor said.
The victims were identified as siblings Blanca Elena, Gustavo Adolfo and Jesus Alberto Gutierrez Alvarez - ages 10, 8 and 7, respectively - and seven-year-old Samuel Vazquez Gomez.
Police had been searching for the children since they went missing Tuesday after leaving their elementary school in Tacotalpa.
The bodies have already been exhumed and taken to the state capital of Villahermosa, the mayor said.
