None of the ten families of the victims of the Zacatecas massacre filed a missing persons report prior to the discovery of the bodies last Saturday, July 18, even though some individuals had been missing since Thursday, July 16.
State Government Secretary Rodrigo Reyes Mugüerza described the lack of reports as “a bit strange” and revealed that the first recorded disappearance involved a municipal official from Fresnillo. So far, the operation has resulted in three arrests.
This detail complicates an investigation that is already pursuing two simultaneous lines of inquiry: possible collusion involving Fresnillo municipal officials and an extortion network. According to Reyes Mugüerza, there is evidence to advance both lines of investigation, and they are not mutually exclusive.
The only formal record of a complaint dates back to 2024, when the former mayor of Sombrerete, Ignacio Castrejón Valdez, reported an extortion attempt involving one of his mining companies.
“The matter was resolved, and after that incident, there were no further reports of extortion—at least not formal ones,” Reyes Mugüerza said in an interview with journalist Pepe Cárdenas on Radio Fórmula.
