5 Young Men Were Kidnapped in Mexico — And a Disturbing Video May Show One Being Forced to Kill His Friends

The five friends were last heard from on August 11. On Thursday, investigators said they found four burned and decapitated bodies, according to multiple reports

A young man in Mexico may have been forced to kill his friends after they were allegedly kidnapped in the western state of Jalisco, according to multiple reports, citing Mexican investigators. 

Childhood friends Jaime Adolfo Martínez Miranda, Dante Cedillo Hernández, Diego Alberto Lara Santoyo, Roberto Olmeda Cuellar and Uriel Galván González were last heard from on August 11 in Jalisco, Mexico, according to Spanish media outlet El País.

On Thursday investigators said they had discovered four decapitated and badly burned bodies that might be related to the five kidnapped youths, one of whom was filmed apparently being forced to kill the others, according to CBS News and Mexico News Daily. The bodies are yet to be officially identified.

The friends, who are aged between 19 and 22 years old, had reportedly attended a festival in the city of Lagos de Moreno, CBS News reports. According to El País, they were last heard from at 10:55 p.m., when they said they were heading home.

According to CBS, authorities announced that four bodies were found inside a building near where the young men were believed to have been kidnapped and later photographed in captivity. As reported by El País, the photo showed the five friends gagged and kneeling while displaying bloodied and bruised faces. 

The video also reportedly shows one of the young men apparently being forced to saw off his friend's head with a knife, per CBS. The young men's families have reportedly said that the clothing and appearance of the youths seen in the photo and video matched their missing relatives, as reported by the outlet.

View of the house where allegedly five young men were murdered in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco State, Mexico, on August 17, 2023. 

ULISES RUIZ/AFP VIA GETTY

According to El País, the horrifying video was broadcast in Mexico and showed two of the young men lying face down with their T-shirts covered in blood, while another one of the kidnapped victims was apparently being forced to stab and beat one of the others. CBS also reported that the video showed someone off-screen throwing a brick to one of the youths to use it against another. Per the outlet, officials in Jalisco said they were investigating the video, but believe the video showed a link to a cartel in the city.

The remains of the fifth member of the group may have been found by police inside a burning car in the area before the decapitated bodies were discovered, per CBS. According to El País, citing the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office, the car found with the remains is believed to be the vehicle the young men were traveling in on the evening they disappeared. The area where they went missing is known for cartel violence.

Before the bodies were found, investigators had raided buildings on a ranch and found bloodstains and scattered shoes. According to CBS, the state prosecutor's office said in a statement Wednesday, “This makes one think the five youths were there at this ranch.”

Meanwhile, in a news briefing on Wednesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the case was “very regrettable.”

According to El País, at the time of their presumed abduction, Roberto Olmeda Cuellar, 20, was studying industrial engineering at the University of Guadalajara, Diego Lara Santoyo, 20, was working as a blacksmith with his father and was driving the group in his vehicle on the evening they disappeared. Uriel Galván González, 19, “is very happy, very friendly and close to his family,” his father told the outlet, and Dante Cedillo, 22, was a professional cyclist. Jaime Martínez Miranda, 21, was a bricklayer who was close to his family.