Overview

• Investigators confirmed 383 complete bodies and six partial remains in a non-descript facility just across from El Paso, Texas
• Chihuahua officials say most corpses were embalmed and misrepresented as ashes by the crematorium to at least six local funeral homes
• Owner Jose Luis Arellano Cuaron and an employee have been charged with improper disposal of bodies as authorities review the remains for possible homicide charges
• State records indicate the facility operated under lapsed or unclear licensing while storing remains for up to four years
• Mexico’s overburdened forensic services face a mounting backlog amid more than 127,000 officially reported missing persons