Cops hunting serial killer in Puerto Vallarta after three women found dead?
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The violence that has plagued huge swaths of Mexico has now struck home in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta.
Cops fear they are hunting a possible serial killer after the bodies of three women were discovered in different parts of the city in just 11 days.
According to the Mexico Daily News , the latest victim was discovered Thursday morning. Detectives said the death was eerily similar to the two previous mysterious deaths.
On May 10, the first victim was discovered, while the second woman was found at a roadside rest stop along the highway to Mismaloya just outside Puerto Vallarta.
Chilling similarities in murders
The three victims were all heavily tattooed and believed to be between 30 and 35 years old. So far none of the victims, whose bodies were all discovered in areas off the beaten track, have been identified.
In each case, the women were found in a very similar state of undress.
Now, investigators are trying to determine whether the grisly murders have followed a pattern and whether they are related. Hovering in the background is the possibility they are the work of the bloodthirsty drug cartels.
The victim found Thursday had a number of distinctive tattoos that cops are hoping will help identify her. One was of a horned woman with a hand covering her mouth, a skull tattoo, and a woman’s name tattooed on her right arm.
Additional identifying marks were discovered on her neck, hand and arm.
Officials said additional identifying marks were located on her neck, hand, and arm. Her body reportedly showed signs of violence.
Woman disappeared in April
At this point, investigators suspect the victim could be Elizabeth Galindo Martínez, 22, from the Mexico City area and who disappeared in late April. Martinez has tattoos matching those found on the victim.
Cops have not confirmed the victim’s identity but the News said Martinez’s relatives were travelling to Puerto Vallarta to determine whether the victim is their loved one.
Aside from Martinez’s family, no one has has come forward to identify any of the victims.
One theory is that the women were murdered in a death house elsewhere and transported and dumped near the Pacific coast enclave.
Explosion in cartel violence
The murders have triggered new fears among the violence-weary local population.
While cops say they are eyeing the possibility that they’re dealing with a serial killer, officials say the probe is in its early stages and that all avenues remain open. Still, there are a number of chilling similarities between the victims, the crime scenes, and the murderous scenarios.
Far from its pristine beaches and tourist hotspots, Puerto Vallarta has been the scene of heightened violence and bloodshed connected to a civil war among the country’s dope cartels.
Triggering the latest round of underworld tit-for-tat was the Mexican special forces operation in February that killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.
Known as “El Mencho,” Cervantes was wounded in a shootout with the the feds and died of his injuries while en route to Mexico City.
His death unleashed carnage in Puerto Vallarta and elsewhere with burning vehicles blackening the sky and a slew of murders.
Several airlines temporarily cancelled flights to and from Puerto Vallarta in the wake of the chaos while blockades, rioting and looting also plagued the area.
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