1,600 Baby Teeth Found at Suspected Mass Grave in Mexico, Group Claims

A volunteer group searching for missing people has reported uncovering at least 1,600 baby teeth at a suspected mass grave site in western Mexico. The group, Buscando Cuerpos en Todo México, claims the teeth belong to children who were victims of human trafficking. However, neither federal nor state authorities have independently confirmed the discovery or linked the remains to specific victims.

The group, founded by former Michoacán congresswoman Margarita López, has been rallying outside Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office demanding genetic testing and identification of the teeth, but has not yet been successful.

López told the Mexican news outlet Milenio that her group, accompanied by an investigator from Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, discovered the site in Zacapu, Michoacán, in 2021. They reportedly spotted smoke rising from a hill and proceeded to a property allegedly owned by a drug trafficker, where they found what appeared to be human remains. According to López, the investigator identified one of the teeth as belonging to a child.

López, whose own daughter disappeared in 2011 and was later recovered, has been searching for missing persons and stated she unearthed human bone fragments at the site over the years. On Wednesday, the group discovered what appeared to be sets of baby teeth. López has suggested, without presenting evidence, that the teeth may belong to children between the ages of 1 and 12 who could have been victims of organ trafficking or sexual exploitation.

The Michoacán State Attorney General’s Office released a statement on Thursday rejecting the group's claims. The office stated that from 2021 to the present, no complaint, referral, or request for forensic intervention related to these events has been received by them or Mexico's Attorney General's Office.

López countered the authorities' statements on Facebook, asserting that officers from the Michoacán State Attorney General’s Office were present during the recovery operation and that a federal prosecutor and forensic personnel handled the chain of custody for the remains, all of which she claims is documented. She criticized the government for remaining silent or denying the discovery, especially given Mexico's ongoing crisis of over 130,000 missing persons, including 18,104 children.

López has requested intervention from the International Committee of the Red Cross to assist with the investigation. The New York Post reached out to both Mexico's Attorney General's Office and Michoacán's State Attorney General's Office for comment.