A Tijuana-based Catholic priest who was assassinated in Playas de Rosarito was well-loved by church-goers, said a worker at the church where Ícmar Arturo Orta was parish priest.

“Since his arrival here in the parish he had won the affection of many people; he was dearly loved by parishioners,” said the man at San Luis Rey de Francia church in Tijuana’s Obrera neighborhood.

Orta, 50, disappeared last Thursday after celebrating mass. On Saturday morning a vehicle was found in Rosarito with the body of a man inside. He had been shot and showed signs of having been tortured, and his hands and feet had been tied.

He was later identified as the missing priest.

Born in Saucillo, Chihuahua, Orta was the seventh Catholic priest to be assassinated in Mexico this year.

Source: El Diario de Yucatán (sp), Diario Tijuana (sp)