Journalist found dead in Mexico's capital
February 23, 2022
Television host and model Michelle Perez Tadeo was found dead in a southern neighborhood of Mexico City, authorities said on Tuesday.
Mexico's Attorney General's Office said that the body was find in the town of Santo Tomas Ajusco neighborhood of the southwestern Tlalpan district.
Known on television as Michell Simon, she had been reported missing for three days. Authorities said that the body was found wrapped in sheets by workers putting out a fire on a nearby highway.
Police said they conducted interviews with witnesses at the scene, but no cause of death has been released. Authorities said that they were following "various lines of investigation."
Mexico a dangerous place for journalists
If Simon's death is confirmed as a murder, it would make her the sixth media worker to be killed in Mexico since the start of the year.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter that the deaths of journalists in Mexico was concerning.
"I join those calling for greater accountability and protections for Mexican journalists," he said.
Earlier this month, independent journalist Heber Lopez Vazquez was gunned down outside his office in the port city of Salina Cruz in Mexico's southern Oaxaca state.
Press rights group, Reporters Without Borders, called Mexico the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.
According to UNESCO, Mexico is the country with the second-most journalist deaths after Syria. Over 85% of the murders since 2006 have gone unpunished.
sdi/wmr (Reuters, EFE)