2 Colombian musicians found dead near Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The bodies of two Colombian musicians reported missing last week have been identified after being found outside Mexico City, authorities said Monday.

Singer Bayron Sánchez Salazar, known professionally as B-King, and Jorge Luis Herrera, known as DJ Regio Clown, were found on Sept. 17 in Cocotitlan, in neighboring Mexico state, but only recently identified, the Mexico City prosecutor’s office said.

The two friends had left for a gym in Mexico City’s high-end Polanco neighborhood on Sept. 16 and never returned, authorities said. Local press reports said a message from a local criminal organization was found with their remains.

Relatives of Sánchez Salazar identified his remains on Monday, the prosecutor’s office said.

Mexico’s federal security apparatus said on X that the military would assist the civilian investigators in finding the perpetrators.

Colombia President Gustavo Petro railed against the drug war in condemning their killings.

“International mafia strengthened by the stupid militaristic and prohibitionist policy called the ‘drug war,’” he wrote on X.

Sánchez Salazar’s manager Juan Camilo Gallego said it was the first time the singer had performed in a club in Mexico, but Herrera had lived there for several years.

He said both had plane tickets to fly to Colombia on Sept. 17.