A search brigade in Sinaloa found more than 5,000 human bones — mostly from the hands and feet, according to preliminary analysis — and four bodies in clandestine graves in the municipalities of Culiacán and Mazatlán last week.

The first discovery took place at the La Primavera neighborhood of Culiacán, a wealthy residential neighborhood where bodies have been found in the past.

On Saturday, a brigade made up of family members of missing persons found bags containing more than 5,000 fragments of bones. A forensic scientist working with the brigade said the bones correspond to adults, adolescents and children, and the absence of complete bodies suggest that the victims were mutilated before being killed.

Juan Carlos Saavedra, who heads the state commission charged with searching for missing people, said that forensics will determine how many people’s bones were found at the site.

“The forensic scientists will determine it, they will count how many bone fragments there are . . . and how many people or how many hands were mutilated,” he said.

Two bodies were also found at La Primavera, both with gunshot wounds to the back of the neck.

Pieces of clothing were also found and the brigade has not ruled out that more bodies will be found there.

Later, another group that is also part of the brigade found two bodies in Playa de Cerritos in the municipality of Mazatlán. The bodies were buried around a meter under ground.

At both sites, forensic specialists from the state Attorney General’s Office removed the remains and turned them over to the Medical Forensic Service, which will begin the process of identifying them.

The state search brigade is made up of local search collectives throughout Sinaloa.

Source: Excélsior (sp), El Universal (sp)