Mexico.- The tragedy of people who die without recovering their identity or without their families being able to find them continues in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, where forensic authorities carried out the burial of 117 bodies that remained unidentified or unclaimed, while around 560 people have met this fate during the current state government of Chihuahua (northern Mexico).
The remains correspond to people who died approximately between 2019 and 2025 and, although they are transferred to individualized graves, the authorities consider their burial as a destination that may be temporary, since the final goal remains to identify them and return them to their families.
Héctor Manuel Jacob Hernández, coordinating expert of Forensic Sciences of Forensic Services in the Northern Zone, explained to EFE that before authorizing the procedure, the necessary studies are carried out to preserve the information that allows for subsequent identification.
“The decision to bury first is made for health reasons and to avoid unnecessary overcrowding,” he noted.
The official indicated that only after concluding the corresponding forensic tests, obtaining postmortem data, and advancing in the investigation files, is it authorized for the bodies to be taken for burial.
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A problem also marked by migration
The figure reflects a problem that persists in the border city, which is characterized by a large floating population.
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According to Jacob Hernández, among the people who remain unidentified, there could even be foreign migrants or citizens from other states in the country.
The burial of the 117 bodies will also allow for a reduction in the number of remains that remain under the custody of forensic facilities.
The expert explained that no burials were carried out during 2025 because work was concentrated on the Plenitud crematorium case, a situation that caused a greater burden on forensic services.
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Returning to their families
Behind every buried body remains an open investigation and the possibility that, even years later, an identification may allow for a name to be given and for them to be returned to their relatives.
“Bringing them here is a dignified way to be treated, giving them a temporary destination, if not the final one, because the final one is with their families,” stated Jacob Hernández.
Each body is placed in an individualized and registered grave, so it can be located and exhumed in the event that its identity is subsequently established.
The time a person remains in custody before reaching this procedure varies according to the progress of each investigation, noted the expert.
Finally, he reported that around 560 people have been buried in Ciudad Juárez alone during the current state administration.
The Plenitud crematorium case occurred in June 2025, when authorities located more than 700 bodies piled up without being cremated in Ciudad Juárez, despite the fact that their families had paid for that service.
That scandal exposed oversight failures, raised new doubts about the true fate of dozens of deceased individuals, and added pressure to forensic authorities who were already facing backlogs in the identification, storage, and dignified release of remains.
