Mexican search mother Margarita López made a disturbing discovery in 2021 while searching a clandestine grave in Zacapu, Michoacán. As she was digging up a human femur by hand, smoke rising from a nearby hillside caught her attention.
López approached what she suspected was a clandestine crematorium. While sifting through the remains, she found a bone that appeared to be a baby tooth. A forensic expert later confirmed her suspicion. According to journalist Óscar Balderas, who spoke with López, searchers have since found around 1,600 baby teeth at the site.
The discovery prompted search groups to use finer sieves to separate soil from human remains. According to the report, the evidence suggests that hundreds of children between the ages of one and six may have been incinerated at the site.
It has not been determined whether the children were killed and then cremated or whether the burning was intended to destroy their remains. López said she has no certainty about the circumstances, but suggested that the children could have been victims of crimes including human trafficking, sexual abuse, child pornography or organ trafficking.
Authorities will need to conduct forensic analyses and DNA testing to identify the remains and determine how the children died. The report also notes that Mexico has more than 131,000 officially reported missing people and that around 72,000 remains or bodies are in forensic custody awaiting identification.
