The body of 59-year-old Mexican journalist Luis Martín Sánchez Iñiguez, who has been missing since Wednesday, was found in the Mexican state of Nayarit on Saturday. At the time of his disappearance, Sánchez Iñiguez was working as a correspondent for the Mexico City newspaper La Jornada.

Speaking on the discovery, prosecutors explained, “The body was found with signs of violence, and two handwritten signs were found on it.”

This marks the second death of a reporter in Mexico so far this year and follows in the wake of 15 murders involving media members in 2022.

Only two days after Sánchez Iñiguez disappeared, journalist Jonathan Lora Ramírez was abducted by armed men. He was later found safely on Saturday. This is in contrast to journalist Osiris Maldonado, who has been missing since July 3. In February, news photographer José Ramiro Araujo, 67, was stabbed and beaten to death in northern Mexico.

This string of violence supports evidence released earlier this year by The Committee to Protect Journalists, which reported that killings of journalists worldwide “rose sharply” in 2022, with 68 journalists being killed. Latin America emerged as the deadliest region for reporters last year. Mexico also ranks 128th on the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, which aims to compare the level of press freedom enjoyed by journalists and media across 180 countries and territories. In explaining Mexico’s low position, the Index explains:

Year after year, Mexico remains one of the world’s most dangerous and deadly countries for journalists. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in power since 2018, has not yet carried out the reforms and measures needed to stop the spiral of violence against the press.

Prosecutors highlighted the link between these violent acts and the media, explaining that their investigation is focusing on the journalistic work of the victims, particularly because it is “known that at some point they collaborated in joint projects related to their occupation.” The prosecutors’ statement concluded by highlighting that, if necessary, these investigations may be forwarded to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Attention to Crimes committed against Freedom of Expression.