Mexican investigators find decapitated and burned bodies possibly linked to horrorifying video

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican investigators said Thursday they have found four burned and decapitated bodies that might be related to the horrifying case of five kidnapped youths, one of whom was filmed apparently being forced to kill the others.

Prosecutors in the western state of Jalisco said the bodies were badly burned and had not yet been identified. But the bodies were found inside a building near where the young men were kidnapped Friday and later photographed in captivity.

The decapitations also matched details of a video that shows one member of the group apparently being forced to saw off his friend’s head with a knife.

The families of the missing have said the clothing and appearance of the men seen in the photos and video matched their relatives.

The gruesome video transported Mexico back to the darkest days of drug cartel brutality in the early 2000s.

It also sparked a debate about whether President Andrés Manuel López Obrador heard — or pretended not to hear — shouted questions from reporters about the case at his morning news briefing Wednesday.

López Obrador played a recording of the previous day's news briefing Thursday, in which no distinct question could be heard. Still, the president gave little attention to the case Thursday, spending about a minute saying the killings were “very regrettable” while spending far more time discussing baseball.

Officials in Jalisco said they were investigating the grisly video but also called for federal prosecutors to take over the case because drug cartels appeared to be involved. López Obrador said that decision was up to the federal attorney general.

The most horrifying thing about the video is not just the pair of bound, inert bodies seen lying in the foreground during the taping. It is the fact that the youth...