When a group of citizens searching for missing loved ones in Jalisco, a western state in Mexico, followed an anonymous tip to a remote ranch last week, they found the entrance unlocked.
With simple tools—picks, shovels, and metal bars—the searchers began their work, revisiting a site that state investigators had supposedly examined six months earlier.
What they uncovered sent shockwaves through the country and embarrassed state authorities: piles of shoes, heaps of clothing, and what appeared to be human bone fragments. Families from across Mexico have since reached out, recognizing clothing items that might have belonged to their missing relatives.
Shoes are seen Tuesday at the Izaguirre Ranch where skeletal remains were discovered. The remote ranch outside Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara, was allegedly being used as a training base for cartel recruits.
It was a grim reminder of Mexico’s more than 120,000 disappeared individuals, and it prompted the federal government to step in and take over the troubled investigation.
A ‘Training Base’ for Cartel Recruits
Located about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Guadalajara, the ranch in Teuchitlán was allegedly used as a cartel training base before National Guard troops raided it in September.
At that time, authorities arrested 10 people, freed two hostages, and found a body wrapped in plastic. Investigators deployed a backhoe, search dogs, and ground-scanning devices to detect possible graves.
But after that, the investigation went silent—until members of Jalisco Search Warriors, one of many citizen-led search groups in Mexico, decided to revisit the site last week.
Investigators are seen inspecting the Izaguirre Ranch on Tuesday where skeletal remains were discovered.
What they found—shoes, burned bone fragments, and clothing—suggested the original search had been incomplete.
By Thursday, collective members were back at the ranch, this time invited by authorities to observe as evidence was registered and examined.
“A lot of families have stepped forward to identify items of clothing,” said Maribel, a member of the search collective. Speaking outside the ranch, she requested to be identified only by her first name for safety reasons.
“What we want is to stop all of this, the disappearances,” she said. “We hope that this time they’ll do the work as they should.” Police stand guard outside the entrance to Izaguirre Ranch on Thursday.
Police at Discovery Site (Photo: AP)An ‘Irresponsible Omission’
According to official records, more than 120,000 people are missing in Mexico. But many families feel abandoned by authorities, which is why citizen-led search groups like the Jalisco Search Warriors have taken matters into their own hands.
These groups scour potential mass grave sites, often without official protection, and pressure the government into action by publicizing their discoveries.
This time, it worked.
On Tuesday, Jalisco State Prosecutor Salvador González de los Santos visited the ranch personally, confirming that investigators had found six clusters of bones.
However, he did not specify how many victims they might belong to. He also admitted that earlier efforts were “insufficient” but did not explain why state investigators had failed to find what untrained civilians had uncovered.
His office later posted photos of the evidence, urging families to check for recognizable items of clothing.
By Wednesday, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus announced that Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office would take over the investigation—following a request from President Claudia Sheinbaum. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, is known to operate in the region.
On Thursday, government vehicles surrounded the secluded ranch, a compound of squat buildings enclosed by a tall wall and fields.
“This ranch served as a training site and, even though it sounds awful, really harsh, for extermination,” said Indira Navarro, leader of the search collective, earlier this week.
She blamed former Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro for “trying to hide this kind of situation or discovery.” She also questioned how state investigators—equipped with advanced technology and training—could have missed what her group found with just a pick, a shovel, and a metal bar.
On Wednesday, the Mexican Episcopal Conference released a statement expressing deep concern over the ranch’s discovery, calling it an “irresponsible omission” by authorities at all levels of government and another painful reminder of Mexico’s ongoing crisis of disappearances.