Authorities and search collectives located seven clandestine graves in La Paz and Comondú over several days, confirming a pattern families have warned about for months. The State Search Commission reported five sites along the La Paz–San Juan de la Costa corridor and two additional sites in Comondú, all of which were documented during coordinated “búsqueda generalizada” operations with federal and state support.
The Comondú discoveries occurred over three consecutive days of work. Officials detailed two locations: near kilometer 41 on the Zaragoza–Poza Grande stretch and at kilometer 180 on the La Paz–Comondú highway. In La Paz, five burial sites were discovered off the road to San Juan de la Costa, an area that families and local media have repeatedly flagged for earlier finds.
What the state has confirmed so far
The commission states that it notified the state prosecutor’s office to open case files and initiate forensic processing in accordance with established protocols. That step triggers crime-scene work, exhumations where appropriate, and eventual DNA comparisons against family reference samples. Authorities have not released a tally of remains linked to these seven sites, and identifications—if any—are expected to take time.
Search leaders and relatives stress that these graves are not isolated events. Over the past year, the San Juan de la Costa corridor has produced repeated recoveries. Local outlets documented dozens of remains in that zone before the latest operation, reinforcing concerns about long-term dumping patterns outside the capital.
The larger picture behind the finds
Disappearances in Baja California Sur have been rising. By mid-May 2025, La Paz recorded 410 missing or unlocated people in public datasets, up from 356 a year earlier, according to civil-society analysis of the national registry. That shift mirrors what families describe on the ground: more reports, slow identifications, and a backlog for labs.
State officials have also acknowledged public-safety pressure points. Days before these discoveries, the governor said he would seek additional federal support for Comondú and Loreto after a spate of violent incidents. Families read that as a sign the state knows specific corridors need sustained presence, not sporadic patrols.
What families want to see next
Families and collectives are pushing for a broader search footprint and faster lab work. They want routine sweeps to prevent the appearance of new graves, consistent perimeter security for volunteers, and clear timelines for forensic results. Organizers in La Paz are also calling public actions to keep pressure on institutions as case files move through the system.
For relatives, the key measure is identification. Every new site raises the same question: how quickly can authorities connect recovered remains with DNA samples already on file? The answer depends on resources, chain-of-custody discipline, and whether field teams can preserve fragile evidence in desert conditions before the heat does its damage.
What we know—and what we don’t
We know where the seven graves were found and that the prosecutor’s office is now involved. We do not yet know how many individuals are associated with these specific sites, their identities, or whether the patterns in burial methods match those in earlier recoveries along the same routes. Those details come later, after forensic teams do the slow, necessary work.
Until then, families will continue to return to the same scrublands with probes and shovels, following tips, reading the soil, and hoping for answers. The latest finds won’t be the last word on the La Paz–San Juan de la Costa corridor. They are a marker—and a test—of whether institutions can match the persistence of the people they are searching for.
