Body of missing Mexican journalist found in Nayarit

The body of a correspondent for one of Mexico’s leading newspapers, Luis Martín Sánchez Íñiguez, 59, has been found in the western state of Nayarit, days after he was reported missing.

The journalist worked for La Jornada and had been missing since Wednesday.

His death is being treated as murder linked to his work, in one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.

Sánchez is one of three journalists to have been abducted in the state in recent days.

His body was found on Saturday in the village of El Ahuacate near the city of Tepic, the public prosecutor’s office said – a day after his wife filed a missing person’s report.

Two messages were attached to his chest, but the authorities have not revealed what they said.

It is thought Sánchez was killed between 24 and 48 hours before his body was found.

His disappearance came a day after a teacher and former reporter went missing on his way to work. The whereabouts of the man, named Osiris, remain unknown.

The third person to go missing was a man named Jonathan, who the authorities said was abducted on Friday but was later found alive and “in a good state of health”.

Sánchez’s death has sparked outrage both in Mexico and internationally. The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights has called for the authorities to clarify what happened.

“We demand justice for the Mexican journalists!” the group wrote on social media.

The Americas branch of the Committee to Protect Journalists is among the other rights groups that have also condemned the killing.

Sánchez is not the first journalist to be targeted in Mexico this year.

A news photographer named José Ramiro Araujo passed away in February in the northern state of Baja California. According to La Jornada, at least four additional persons have also been killed.

Mexico has continuously been recognised as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to operate in by press freedom organizations.

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