Updated on: April 18, 2026 / 12:51 PM EDT / CBS/AFP
More than 1,000 bone fragments have been recovered around a lake in Mexico City, relatives’ collectives and volunteers said, in the weeks leading up to the city hosting World Cup matches — a striking reminder of the country’s long-running drug-related violence.
Families searching for missing loved ones described the discoveries near Lake Chalco as evidence of a “devastating reality” and “a forensic crisis of incalculable dimensions.” “While the authorities want this to go unnoticed, the families want the whole world to know the tragedy that occurs in the country’s capital,” the collective said in a statement.
City authorities began exhuming a lakefront site in the eastern borough last week. Prosecutors on Monday reported finding about 300 bone fragments there, which they said could belong to three people. The volunteer group, however, said its teams located over 1,000 fragments in and around the site, including in areas that government agents had already searched.
The discoveries come amid a broader national missing-persons crisis. Since 2006, when federal troops were deployed to confront powerful cartels, more than 480,000 people have been killed and roughly 130,000 reported missing, official tallies indicate. A United Nations committee of experts has characterized the missing persons situation as a “crime against humanity,” saying efforts to recover remains have been hindered by “acquiescence and omission on the part of public servants.”
Committee chair Juan Albán-Alencastro noted that international law does not require crimes against humanity to be nationwide or directed from the highest levels of government; rather, the scale, pattern of attacks, and targeting of civilians are what matter.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the U.N. report, asserting it overlooked new policies intended to help families of the missing. Activists who met with city officials demanded continuous searches until the lake site is fully inspected.
Mexico City and Guadalajara will host World Cup games in June, prompting protests in both cities over what demonstrators say is inadequate investigation into disappearances. Guadalajara sits in Jalisco state, which has recorded more than 15,900 missing persons — a toll experts link to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, accused of tactics including fake job offers to recruit and alleged torture and killings of those who resist.
In February, Mexican forces killed cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, an operation that triggered a spike in violence in some areas but did not deter international football organizers from proceeding. Human remains continue to be found in Jalisco; earlier this month at least 11 sets of skeletal remains were uncovered in hidden graves near Guadalajara, and dozens of bags containing remains were recovered from a clandestine grave last October.
Families’ groups and volunteer searchers say continued, unfettered investigations and forensic work are essential as the country prepares to host an event drawing global attention.