A radio host and manager in the Mexican state of Michoacán was found dead along a highway near the state of Guerrero.
Fidel Ávila Gómez, 46, was last seen on Nov. 29, 2019 in Huetamo, Michoacán, but was reported missing on Dec. 2, according to the State Attorney General of Michoacán. According to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) of Mexico, the body was found on Jan. 7.
His body was found in a ditch near the state of Guerrero and he was shot to death, according to newspaper El Universal. The State Attorney General’s office is pursuing various lines of investigation, the publication added.
Ávila Gómez was host and manager at radio broadcaster Ke Buena in Huetamo, Michoacán.
The CNDH condemned the murder and called on authorities to investigate possible ties between the killing and Ávila Gómez’s work at the radio.
The commission said that on Dec. 3 it had requested precautionary measures to search for the journalist from the General Secretariat of Government and the Attorney General’s Office in Guerrero.
According to its information, Ávila Gómez left Huetamo on Nov. 29 to attend a cultural event in Guerrero, was abducted by armed people and taken away in a van.
“The CNDH reiterates its concern about the lack of appropriate mechanisms by the authority to prevent and avert killings of journalists and media workers who seek to inhibit their exercise of freedom of expression,” the commission wrote.
