A mass grave filled with dozens of female corpses — believed to be victims of a violent sex and murder ring — was found in an ex-cop’s backyard in El Salvador, reports said Friday.
Police made the grisly discovery this week while investigating former police officer Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chavez for the double homicide of a 57-year-old woman and her 26-year-old daughter — a crime the ex-cop has apparently admitted to, the Daily Beast reported.
When cops went into Chavez’s backyard in Chalchuapa, about 50 miles from the capital San Salvador, they noticed the ground appeared to be uneven and soft.
Investigators soon discovered eight pits filled with what they believe could be at least a dozen bodies each, the outlet reported.
Chavez, 51, has a rap sheet that includes sex crimes allegations. He was kicked off the force in 2005 after admitting to being a sexual predator, who found women on social media and lured them in with the promise of the “American Dream,” cops told reporters.
A forensic expert looks for evidence in soil collected where authorities are excavating the mass grave. Jose Cabezas/Reuters
Police director Mauricio Arriaza Chicas speaks about the mass gravesite. Jose Cabezas/Reuters
The police found the grave when they were investigating ex-cop Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chavez. Jose Cabezas/ReutersChavez and ten others have been arrested in what cops believe was a sex and murder ring that left women, and possibly some young men, dead.
“This psychopath has been detained and I believe that 99 percent of the people who assisted him have been detained,” Police Chief Mauricio Arriaza Chicas told reporters.
Police officers secure the perimeter of the site where the mass grave was dug.Jose Cabezas/ReutersSexual violence appears to be a common denominator in all of the women’s deaths, police said.
Graciela Sagastume, the prosecutor in charge of the probe, said “the central axis of the investigation is sexual violence.”
Claudia Lopez shows a picture of her brother who went missing the years ago. Jose Cabezas/Reuters
Investigators found eight pits with bodies in them. Jose Cabezas/ReutersNone of the suspects in custody have explained what was behind the makeshift cemetery — believed to be at least two or more years old. Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro indicated more than one person is complicit in the mass grave.
On Friday, people with missing relatives were gathered at Chavez’s home, clutching photos of their loved ones and hoping they’d be able to identify one of the corpses.
At least two dozen bodies have already been exhumed by police suspect there could be at least 40 more. It could take a month to dig them all up.
