The number of decomposing bodies found stacked in a non-descript building at the Mexico-US border is still rising, according to investigators.
Nearly 400 corpses have been accounted for at the site in Juarez, which is just across the border from El Paso in Texas, including 383 complete human bodies and 6 partial remains, according to the TV station KVIA.
Some of the people found at the suspected secret crematorium are thought to have been dead for three to four years. Stacks of cadavers were found after a tip led authorities on Thursday to a property that looked more like a home than an incinerator.
Most of the dead appeared to have been embalmed, Mexican authorities told reporters during a press conference Monday.
It is unclear why they had not been either buried or incinerated, according to the Border Report.
Owner Jose Luis Arellano Cuaron and an employee will be charged with improper disposal of bodies.
The remains are being checked to ensure the bodies are not victims of murder and more charges could follow.
State officials said many of the bodies appear to have come from six different funeral homes in the sprawling border city, where relatives were given ‘ashes’ and were under the belief their loved ones had been properly disposed of.
‘They constantly received bodies for cremation,’ Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui said.
‘They misrepresented hundreds of times to funeral companies they would be cremating those bodies.’
While the owner appeared to have three licenses to operate at one point, it was unclear whether the operation was in good standing.
The governor of the state of Chihuahua told reporters that the crematorium had been run by ‘irresponsible and unscrupulous people who misused these licenses and permits.’
The gruesome discovery also opened the door for closure to the families of hundreds of people who have been missing in the city known for cartel violence.
During the Biden years, many migrants waiting for legal entry into the US were often kidnapped or went missing.
‘Of course, all the families and we ourselves were worried and wondered who is there? What bodies are there? Are they identified? The mothers told us, ‘My daughter is not there,'” Yadira Cortez, a representative from the Ciudad Juárez Women’s Roundtable Network told KFOX.
The state has opened up a process for anyone who believes their loved one may be there.
Families are asked to bring an official ID, as well as a description of what their loved one was last wearing and what funeral home they released their loved one’s body to.