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Two people allegedly linked to the homicide have been arrested.
Rev. Ernesto Baltazar Hernández Vilchis, 43, 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.
Hernández Vilchis arrived at the parish of Santa Cruz Cantera,
in Tultepec, in early October, according to the church's
Facebook page. Days later, the parish announced on their social
networks that intruders entered the temple, cut the cables of
the security cameras and stole one of their bells. The parish
asked for the community's collaboration to find those
responsible.
The prosecutor's office did not say what could be the motive
behind the murder. In a statement, it indicated the priest went
alone in his vehicle to a home where he spent several hours with
a woman and man, who allegedly attacked him with a sharp object.
The alleged assailant's partner also arrived at the scene.
The three individuals, allegedly participated in hiding the
body. The man, who had a criminal record for a violent robbery,
and his partner have been arrested. The other woman is under
investigation.
The church’s Catholic Multimedia Center, which tracks attacks on
priests, said 10 priests were killed in Mexico from 2019 to
2024. During the same period there were 900 cases of extortion,
death threats against members of the Catholic Church, as well as
other types of aggression.
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