A journalist has been found dead 24 days after she was kidnapped from her home.
Roxana Guzmán Ramírez was seized by at least three armed men who forced entry into her house on the morning of 2 June.
Terrifying footage showed one masked man repeatedly striking the front door with a sledgehammer.
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Roxana’s brother could be heard pleading with the trio to stop, warning them that there was a baby inside the house.
After forcing their way in, one of the men pointed a rifle at Roxana and her brother before seizing her phone.
The horror unfolded in the municipality of Nanchital in Mexico’s Veracruz State.
Roxana’s body was located at a ranch about 15 miles from her home 24 days later.
The discovery followed the arrest of a suspect known as ‘Delta 7’, who allegedly took part in the kidnapping and revealed where she had been killed.
Several municipal police officers have also been detained in connection with the kidnapping.
Four municipal police officers from Ixhuatlán del Sureste, including a commander and three subordinates, were also detained on suspicion of links to the case.
Additional suspects are under investigation, with reports indicating up to six people linked to the crime so far.
The investigation continues.
The journalist’s alleged murder may have been linked to the killing of her husband Carlos Fernández Escalante in Nanchital on 11 March 2017.
He was reportedly assassinated in front of Roxana.
Fernández, known as ‘El Loco’, had been arrested in 2012 for possession of weapons reserved for the military and drugs, as reported by Need To Know.
In December 2015, after being released, he survived an attack in which he was shot at least three times.
Investigations into his death pointed to a possible revenge killing linked to old disputes.
Before his death, Roxana worked at the news website Diario del Istmo, but left Veracruz after the killing for safety reasons.
Years later, she returned and founded the online outlet Pulso Informativo del Sureste, covering local social, political and security issues.
The page is followed by some 20,000 of Nanchital’s roughly 30,000 residents, and Roxana had planned to expand coverage further afield.
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