Mexican authorities find 383 bodies at a Ciudad Juarez crematorium

MEXICO CITY — An anonymous call led Mexican authorities in the border city of Ciudad Juarez to a chilling discovery at a crematorium: 383 bodies and the partial remains of six other people.

Chihuahua state prosecutor César Jáuregui said Monday that the people had been dead for at least three or four years.

“Who knows what the ulterior motive of these subjects was, because storing that number also makes you think they weren’t providing the service,” he said.

Authorities did not yet know why so many bodies had been stored at the crematorium, which worked with six funeral homes in the city. The bodies were discovered last Thursday.

Jáuregui said the crematorium’s owner and an employee had been arrested.