At Least 40 Bodies Discovered In Former El Salvadorian Policeman’s Garden
At least 40 bodies, most of them believed to be women, have been discovered in a nearby sugar cane field and garden of former El Salvadorian policeman “turned gang leader,” Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chavez. It’s reported that at least 24 people have so far been recovered at Osorio Chavez’s Chalchuapa home. Reportedly, the former policeman was fired back in 2015, and may have been killing people for a decade.
On Thursday (May 20), officials in El Salvador confirmed that they were excavating graves discovered at the home and backyard of Osorio Chavez — who has been previously investigated for sex crimes and is now at least one of 10 people facing charges for the discovered bodies. The discovery occurred after neighbors alerted authorities about an incident. On May 8, the ex-policeman was detained as the main suspect in the murder of a 57-year-old woman and her 26-year-old daughter.
Authorities proceeded to enter the 51-year-old’s home and soon began to uncover and exhume the bodies, a process that could take at least another month. Since, an investigation has been launched and DNA samples are being collected from area residents who’ve reported any missing relatives or associates. While Osorio Chavez is in custody, at least 11 more people tied to him now have warrants out for their arrest — they are suspects accused of aggravated homicide and aggravated femicide — an issue plaguing El Salvador. In 2020, at least 70 women were killed in the country, with 111 in 2019.
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