Two prominent Mexican activists who exposed a horrific “extermination camp” linked to organized crime were brutally murdered on Wednesday in Jalisco, authorities and their advocacy group confirmed.
María del Carmen Morales, 43, and her son Jaime Daniel Ramírez Morales, 26, both dedicated their lives to searching for missing people in Mexico. Their group, Warrior Searchers of Jalisco, made headlines in March when they discovered the Izaguirre ranch, a site with secret crematoriums and buried human remains believed to have been a hub for organized crime.
The gruesome site was labeled an “extermination camp” by Morales’ organization, where criminals allegedly lured potential recruits and held them against their will. However, Mexican authorities have yet to use this term when discussing the property.
While the Jalisco Attorney’s Office maintains that there is no evidence linking the murder to the victims’ activism, spokesperson Denis Rodríguez stressed that all avenues must be exhausted in the investigation.
According to a statement from the Jalisco Attorney’s Office, two men on a motorcycle targeted Morales’ son around 11:30pm on April 23. When Jaime Daniel Ramírez tried to defend himself, his mother was also injured in the attack. Both ultimately lost their lives.
The victims’ family has been plagued by tragedy. María del Carmen Morales’ other son, Ernesto Julián Ramírez Morales, disappeared on February 24 in Las Villas de Tlajomulco, Jalisco, according to Warrior Searchers of Jalisco.
President Claudia Sheinbaum called for further investigation into the murder and expressed her condolences to the family. “This must be thoroughly investigated,” she said. “There can be no conclusion like ‘it had nothing to do with [Morales’s] work.'”
The case is the second in less than a month where individuals seeking justice for missing family members have been killed in Jalisco. On April 2, Teresa González died after being shot during an attempted kidnapping while searching for her brother, who disappeared in February in Guadalajara.
As concerns over impunity continue to grow, human rights organizations are demanding greater accountability from authorities. The incident has sparked widespread outrage and calls for justice in a region where the rule of law appears to be increasingly fragile.
Source: CNN
