Outrage: Cartels condemned after body of missing Mexican journalist found "with signs of violence"

The body of a Mexican journalist that had been missing was found in the northern state of Nayarit with obvious “signs of violence,” Mexico’s state prosecutor's office announced on Saturday. 

Luis Martin Sanchez Iniguez, 59, was a reporter for the newspaper La Jornada, one of Mexico’s leading newspapers. He went missing on Wednesday after he was last seen in the town of Xalisco. By Friday, his wife filed a missing persons report and efforts to find him were launched by authorities. 

Sanchez Iniguez’s body was found in the outskirts of the city of Tepic “with signs of violence, and two handwritten signs were found on it,” prosecutors said in a statement. It is unclear what the messages said. The journalist’s death is thought to have been linked to drug cartels, who are known to leave messages on the bodies of their victims. 

Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of his death. However, they believe he died 24 to 48 hours before his body was found. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists said it "strongly condemns the killing of journalist Luis Martín Sánchez Iñíguez, correspondent of newspaper La Jornada, in the state of Nayarit, and calls on Mexican authorities to immediately and credibly investigate."

Sanchez Iniguez is the second media worker that went missing this month. Osiris Maldonado, who previously worked with La Jornada, was reported missing on July 4 after he did not show up to his work at a school. 

Two days after Sanchez Iniguez went missing, journalist Jonathan Lora Ramirez was abducted by armed men who broke into his apartment. He was found alive a few days later in “good condition.” Authorities are investigating the kidnapping.

Police are investigating whether Maldonado’s disappearance is connected to Sanchez Iniguez’s murder.

“It is known that at some point they collaborated in joint projects related to their occupation, as well as in matters of a personal nature,” La Jornada reported.