GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Two charred bodies were discovered Tuesday inside a burned-out vehicle in which a congressman and his driver were kidnapped at gunpoint the previous day, Mexican authorities said.
Zacatecas state prosecutor Arturo Nahle said that although the vehicle was completely burned, the license plates left “no doubt” that it was the congressman’s SUV.
He said DNA testing was being done on the remains to determine whether they belonged to Gabriel Gomez Michel, a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and his driver.
Nahle said two emergency phone calls Monday tipped authorities off that armed men in several vehicles had intercepted a blue Chevrolet Suburban on a highway on the outskirts of Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco.
“The prosecutors’ office analyzed security cameras under standard procedure, and at 6 p.m. it was detected that effectively two people had been kidnapped,” he said.