Photo: Deposit Photos

By KELIN DILLON

A group of five young men who were reported missing in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, on the night of Friday, Aug. 11, are now presumed dead following videos of their alleged murders circulating on social media.

The youths – Diego Alberto Lara Santoyo, Roberto Cuéllar, Uriel Galván, Jaime Miranda and Dante Hernández – were reportedly childhood friends and attended university together,

The five boys were identified by relatives after a photo of them tied up and beaten appeared on a Facebook account Monday, said Special Prosecutor for Missing Persons Blanca Trujillo.

The social media account also posted a graphic video showing how the youths were forced to beat each other and one was forced to murder another, as well as displays of two of the boys’ lifeless bodies.

“Their relatives tell us, in a preliminary way, that there is a high probability that the young people who appear in the photograph and video are their relatives,” said Trujillo.

The group notably went missing in Jalisco’s Los Altos region, which has been continuously ravaged by cartel violence as the Sinaloa Cartel, led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, battles for control of the so-called “crown jewel” territory against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

The letters ‘MZ’ were seen throughout the disturbing Facebook publications, leading security experts to believe the boys’ violent end is tied to Zambada and the Sinaloa Cartel.

On Tuesday, Jalisco State Attorney Luis Joaquín Méndez revealed the state authorities had discovered the burnt-out remnants of one of the victim’s cars, which Méndez said contained presumably human remains inside.

However, it has yet to be announced if any of the five youths’ bodies have been discovered.

Jalisco’s General Strategic Security Coordination Ricardo Sánchez Beruben went on to say that the state will be requesting assistance from the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) to investigate the case.