Mexican experts piece together 41 bodies found in well

Students hold signs that read in Spanish: 'No more silence!' left, and 'No more violence!', during a protest against the murder of three film students who have become emblematic of Mexico's missing, in Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, April 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

MEXICO CITY -- Forensic examiners in western Mexico said Tuesday they have pieced together a total of 41 bodies from bags full of body parts found in a well earlier this month.

The examiners in the western state of Jalisco said tests were continuing on the grisly contents of 119 plastic bags dumped in a well near the city of Guadalajara. Authorities had to call in backhoes to fully excavate the pit.

Experts said that after a week of study, they had been able to piece together 13 complete bodies, 16 partial bodies, six heads and six body trunks that correspond to different people.

The pit was first located in early September, when residents reported fetid odours and flies around the rural site.

Clandestine burial sites have become common in Jalisco, home to the drug cartel of the same name. Gangs frequently use such pits to dispose of the bodies of rival gangs or kidnap victims.

In July, prosecutors found 21 bodies in the yard of a house near Guadalajara. In May, the remains of at least 34 people were found at two separate properties in Jalisco.

In March, workers were removing mud and debris to clear a storm drain at another spot on the outskirts of Guadalajara, when they began finding plastic bags with the odor of dead bodies.

In the end, they pulled a total of 20 bodies out of the storm drain.