03-07-2025
Outraged mob of grieving families demand answers after 400 corpses are found in house of horrors
A mob of people have lined up outside government offices, demanding to know if their loved ones are among the nearly 400 dead found in a clandestine crematorium that kept the bodies for up to four years.
The stench of decaying human remains led investigators to a nondescript building in Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, where investigators counted nearly 383 complete corpses and 6 partial remains this week.
Even Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum weighed in on the gruesome discovery, promising to release more information Wednesday, after she meets with her security cabinet.
'This is a special case. It seemed to be about one topic, but really there are several topics involved here,' Sheinbaum told reporters Thursday.
At this time, state investigators believe the bodies came from different funeral homes from across the in the sprawling Mexican city and had been embalmed.
They were transferred to the Plenitud Crematorium and instead of being cremated, the bodies were allowed to pile up since the end of the pandemic.
Located in isolated outskirts of the city, whatever was happening at the facility went unnoticed for years, until an anonymous caller reported a bad small in recent days.
When authorities arrived, they found two decomposing bodies in a non-functional hearse in the walled compound, according to Mexican newspaper La Lista.
The rest of the bodies were in two buildings.
María de Jesús González stood in line outside the state prosecutors office with hundreds of other angry people who suspect they were given fake ashes by funeral homes.
'I'm not even over grieving, and now this,' Gonzalez told Juarez Digital while wiping away tears.
'There needs to be justice.'
Her husband died seven months ago. At the time, she said her partner's body was not picked it as scheduled, and that left her feeling suspicious of how his remains were being handled.
It's unclear whether the funeral homes were aware of how the crematorium was up to.
Plenitud owner Jose Luis Arellano Cuaron and an employee will be charged with improper disposal of bodies.
While more charges could be pending, the suspect could spend 17 years if convicted of the current charges.
'It's too little time. If it was 17 years person, that's be okay, but it's too little time,' the grieving wife stated.
'I don't even know what to think anymore.
'I just hope that if he's there, that they take responsibility for the body.'
It's unclear if anyone else may face charges, however, at a press conference, officials revealed 16 of the bodies are so badly decomposed that they can't tell what gender they are.
About 218 are believed to be men and another 149 are deceased women.
'The handling violates every single rule for the disposal of corpses,' Chihuahua State Inspector Carlos Tarín told the media.
'They were not kept in refrigerated chambers or under optimal storage conditions. Therefore, the facility was immediately secured, and an administrative procedure was initiated that could result in sanctions or the revocation of the health permit.'
While the owner appeared to have three licenses to operate at one point, it was unclear whether the operation was in good standing.
The governor of the state of Chihuahua told reporters that the crematorium had been run by 'irresponsible and unscrupulous people who misused these licenses and permits.'
The state has opened up a process for anyone who believes their loved one may be there.
Families are asked to bring an official ID, as well as a description of what their loved one was last wearing and what funeral home they released their loved one's body to.
However, many encountered setbacks the individual funeral homes who claimed not to have the paperwork showing they had handled the bodies of certain people.
