Lucio R. Borderland Beat with material from CJP, and Puebla Noticias
![]()
A body was found Tuesday with a plastic bag wrapped around her head, hands tied behind her body, and her feet bound. The body was on the Cuacnopalan-Tehuacan highway, and is identified as reporter Anabel Flores Salazar.
The El Sol de Orizaba reporter was abducted Monday from her home near the city of Orizaba, in the state of Veracruz.
Between 9:00 and 9:50 hours the discovery was made on the road side in the municipality of Palmar de Bravo in the state of Puebla.
The Attorney General (State FGE) would not confirm the cause of death was asphyxiation or if the woman had injuries with some kind of weapon.
Flores Salazar, was abducted from her home, at around 2 AM Monday, as she was feeding her 15 day old baby, in the Puerta Grande Mariano Escobedo municipality in the metropolitan area of the city of Orizaba.
Eight or more armed assailants dressed in military uniforms, forced their way into Flores Salazar's home, and went straight to her room. The journalist's aunt Sandra Luz Salazar, who was in the house at the time, said the assailants claimed they had a warrant for the reporter's arrest. Gunmen kept weapons pointed at family members in the home, while Flores Salazzar was forced into one of three gray trucks the armed men arrived in.
"We pleaded with them not to take her. I told them that she had a newborn baby," said Luz Salazar. Flores Salazar, who covers crime for the newspaper, and leaves behind a baby and a four-year-old son.
Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte Ochoa said on Twitter Monday that authorities were following the case carefully. A statement from the state prosecutor's office, also released Monday, claimed the reporter had links with an alleged member of an organized crime group. Under Duarte’s time in office there have been 11 murders of Veracruz journalists.
"The administration of Governor Javier Duarte Ochoa has a dismal record of impunity and has been incapable and unwilling to prosecute crimes against the press," said Carlos Lauría, Committee to Protect Journalists, senior program coordinator for the Americas.
"We urge federal authorities to take over the investigation into Anabel Flores Salazar's murder, seriously look her journalism as a possible motive, and bring all those responsible to justice."
A statement from the Veracruz state prosecutor's office, issued shortly after her abduction, said that in August 2014 Flores Salazar had been in the company of an alleged member of an organized crime group at the time of his arrest. Authorities said they are looking into possible link between Flores Salazar and this individual. The statement did not provide further details
When CPJ asked Luz Salazar about the alleged connection, she said her niece had been having dinner with her family when the suspected criminal, who was at the same restaurant but not with them, was arrested.
"Veracruz authorities have a history of denigrating the activities of local journalists without providing any concrete evidence," said Lauría. "We urge authorities to abstain from making unfounded accusations that may further endanger the Veracruz media."