GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Two charred bodies were discovered Tuesday inside a burned-out vehicle in which a congressman and his driver were kidnapped at gunpoint the previous day, Mexican authorities said.
Zacatecas state prosecutor Arturo Nahle said that although the vehicle was completely burned, the license plates left “no doubt” that it was the congressman’s SUV.
He said DNA testing was being done on the remains to determine whether they belonged to Gabriel Gomez Michel, a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and his driver.
Nahle said two emergency phone calls Monday tipped authorities off that armed men in several vehicles had intercepted a blue Chevrolet Suburban on a highway on the outskirts of Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco.
“The prosecutors’ office analyzed security cameras under standard procedure, and at 6 p.m. it was detected that effectively two people had been kidnapped,” he said.
The vehicle and the bodies were found seven hours later in Zacatecas state, which neighbors Jalisco.
Nahle said authorities interviewed other legislators and none of them had known of any threat against Gomez Michel, a 49-year-old pediatrician, sugarcane producer and former mayor who became congressman in 2012.
“I would like to express the consternation of his colleagues and ask for an in depth investigation to determine the truth about what may have happened, and punishment for whomever is responsible,” said Manlio Fabio Beltrones, president of the PRI’s political council.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
