Authorities and search groups confirmed the discovery of six human remains in five clandestine graves found in Baja California Sur (BCS) after an anonymous March 5 tip prompted search operations over the weekend.

The site was located amid scrubland along ​​isolated dirt roads in the BCS municipality of Comondú, near the La Paz-San Juan De La Costa highway.

None of the bodies — one female and five male — were clothed, complicating immediate identification. After forensic testing, the local search collective Búsqueda x La Paz on Wednesday identified two of the victims — 43-year-old Rigoberto Álvarez Amador and Raúl Zamarrón García. 

In a Facebook post, the collective expressed gratitude for the tip, insisting that the group guarantees anonymity for any and all reports, since “our only desire is to find our missing relatives.”

The search continued through Monday, according to Búsqueda x La Paz leader Gabriel Álvarez, who added that it was possible that there were more graves in the area.

Álvarez, whose mother disappeared a decade ago, criticized government efforts to find the missing, telling the news site López Dóriga Digital that authorities are trying to downplay the security crisis “in order to protect the state’s tourism image.”

The northwestern state has a reputation as peaceful, but Álvarez insists it is facing “a critical increase in forced disappearances,” adding that there is a discrepancy between official figures and the reality experienced by families.

“Families know that disappearances here in the state have been increasing every month,” he said.

According to Búsqueda x La Paz, 96 sets of remains have been found recently in clandestine graves in La Paz, the state capital, and this most recent finding has generated concern about the possibility of difficult to detect mass graves in remote areas.

One alarming trend described by the collective is the deception of young people through false job offers. 

Álvarez said families from Sinaloa and Guerrero have reported that their children have traveled to Los Cabos after being offered jobs in the tourism sector only to disappear.

Noting that forensic genetics is the only reliable method for identification in cases such as these, Búsqueda x La Paz released a statement on Facebook recommending DNA testing.

“It is vitally important that every family searching for a loved one has their tests already performed at the forensic services,” it said.

With reports from Infobae, LopezDoriga.com and MVS Noticias