At Mexico's 'ranch of horror' families of the missing hope for answers

By Lizbeth Diaz

TEUCHITLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - The gate, black and 10 feet (3 meters) tall, decorated with two rearing white horses, has become synonymous with death in Mexico. For dozens of families waiting outside on Thursday it also offered a tragic sense of hope in their search for missing loved ones.

The families were granted access to what local media has dubbed the "ranch of horror," an alleged cartel killing site and training camp in Teuchitlan, a rural area about 40 miles (64 km) outside Jalisco's capital, Guadalajara.

It was here that an activist search group for the disappeared found earlier this month what they called an "extermination camp" littered with bone fragments, ashes, alleged makeshift crematoriums, along with hundreds of shoes, backpacks and other belongings.

The case has shocked Mexico, a country numbed by nearly two decades of bloody cartel violence. While the discovery of mass graves is not uncommon here, the possibility this ranch was a site of systematic killing has caused a deep sense of horror.

Mexico's top prosecutor has said it was too soon to determine whether the site was an "extermination center" but added that state authorities had bungled the initial investigation, which has now been turned over to federal investigators.

The property is surrounded by high walls that block views from the outside. There are some run-down houses and barn-like structures now blocked off by crime scene tape. Small red, yellow and green flags stick out of the dirt to mark where authorities found the personal items of people presumed to have been brought here: shoes, backpacks, ID cards.

It is the first time that family members of missing people, as well as journalists, were allowed official access to the site, accompanied by authorities from both the state and federal attorney generals' offices.

People searching for their sons and daughters have for days demanded to be let in, voicing concern the investigation lacked transparency, a widespread sentiment in Mexico where more than 124,000 people have disappeared and few are ever found.

BLUE BACKPACK

Irma Gonzalez, of Puebla state, said she identified a blue backpack and a sweatshirt belonging to her son who disappeared in 2021, in photos shared online by investigators.

"These things at least give me peace of mind that if my son died here, I won't search anymore," Gonzalez said as she waited with other families to enter the ranch.

She said she believed her life was in danger for speaking out.

"I received a call from someone, I don't know who. They told me not to talk anymore because otherwise they'll kill me," Gonzalez said.

The powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, widely thought to have operated the ranch, has taken aim at the search groups that found and publicized the site, claiming in a social media video that they had distorted the facts to create a "horror movie" with the aim of damaging the cartel's image.

Families had come from all over the country to visit the ranch, hoping to find any trace of their missing loved ones.

"I don't understand what these criminal groups want. Why are they taking so many young people?" said Reynaldo Nunez, whose two children, aged 23 and 25, disappeared in Jalisco eight months ago.

It is still unclear how many people might be buried at the ranch or how they died. Mexico's attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, blasted Jalisco state officials on Wednesday, saying they had known about the site since September but had not properly processed evidence or alerted federal officials.

The scandal has cast a shadow over President Claudia Sheinbaum's pledge to crack down on violence and reduce homicides. The attention around Teuchitlan puts pressure on Sheinbaum, who took office last October, to set herself apart from her mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whom critics say did not do enough to address disappearances and a worsening security crisis.

"I don't consider it to be my Achilles' heel," Sheinbaum said in a press conference on Thursday when asked about the handling of the case.

Outside the ranch, tensions rose as more families arrived at the site demanding answers. Many, frustrated by years of waiting in the dark, began to shout.

"I have found a lot of pain, a lot of tears ... but I haven't found my husband," a woman said as she cried, waiting to be let in.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, writing by Cassandra Garrison; editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Sandra Maler)