Body of missing priest found in central Mexico

The body of a missing priest has been found in a river outside Mexico City

MEXICO CITY -- The body of a priest reported missing in late October outside Mexico City has been found wrapped in plastic and tied to a chair in a river, the Mexico state prosecutor’s office said Thursday.

Rev. Ernesto Baltazar Hernández Vilchis, 40, disappeared in Tultepec, north of Mexico City on Oct. 27. His body was found Wednesday about 9 miles (15 kilometers) away and authorities are investigating the homicide, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Priests are sometimes victims of organized crime in Mexico. Last month, the body of a priest was found in the mountains of the southern state of Guerrero.

The church’s Catholic Multimedia Center, which tracks attacks on priests, said 10 priests were killed in Mexico from 2019 to 2024.

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