Families are demanding answers after authorities in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, discovered that 383 bodies had been stored in a crematorium for months and years after the people had died.
Norma Guardado Meraz was one of many locals who visited the Chihuahua Prosecutor’s Office this week to get more information about its investigation into the discovery, fearing that among the bodies are those of their relatives.
The discovery was made on June 26 after several municipal police officers found a hearse containing two bodies and other corpses piled up in a room in the building’s courtyard.
Prosecutor César Jáuregui said the pile of bodies had accumulated since 2020, suggesting that the Plenitud crematorium had failed to perform services it had been subcontracted for by six funeral homes.
“We want an answer so we can be satisfied and for the authorities to help us see what’s going on, so we can be sure we have the right person in our urn,” Guardado Meraz told CNN.
She and her family want clarity about the fate of the remains of her mother, María Nieves Meraz, who died three years ago and was mourned at one of the funeral homes that had subcontracted the crematorium.
Another resident, Javier Ramírez, went to the prosecutor’s office Wednesday to determine if the remains he had received actually belong to his father, who died two months ago and whose wake was held at one of the other funeral homes.
CNN is trying to contact the managers of the funeral homes for comment.
“They just tell us they’ll let us know when they have information, but they don’t know how long it will take. In other words, we just have to wait and see what they tell us,” Ramírez told CNN.
CNN has asked the prosecutor’s office how many complaints it has received in this case and is awaiting a response.
The office said Tuesday that of the 383 bodies found, 218 were men, 149 were women and the gender of 16 could not been identified.
Authorities have detained the owner of the company that operated the crematorium and his assistant in connection with the discovery. They were scheduled to appear in court on Friday. CNN is trying to contact their legal defense team to find out how they will respond to the charges against them.
As the case moves forward, the prosecutor’s office is promising a thorough investigation and says it encourages more people to come forward and demand answers.
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