Video of man carrying suspicious bundle after his employee’s death fuels femicide outrage in Mexico

Mexican prosecutors are investigating a widely shared surveillance video of the former boss of murdered woman carrying a suspicious bundle up a flight of stairs.

Lorena Jacqueline Morales, who lived in the city of León in the central state of Guanajuato and worked at a food store, was reported missing by her family on May 23, according to authorities.

The 28-year-old’s body was found on Tuesday, June 3, inside a suitcase, according to prosecutors. Her murder has shocked the country and has underscored violence against women in Mexico.

Prosecutors arrested the alleged perpetrator, her former boss, that same day.

The surveillance video showed Morales’ former boss going into an apartment building and climbing a flight of stairs with a covered-up object. Later, the man is seen next to a car struggling to load a heavy suitcase into the trunk.

The timestamp in the upper left corner of the video suggests it was filmed on May 22. It’s unclear what happened before and after the footage was recorded.

Guanajuato Gov. Libia Dennise García Muñoz said the case should be investigated as a femicide.

Mexico has long struggled with high levels of both homicide and violence against women.

While not all homicides involving women are femicides, many are. In 2020, a quarter of female killings in Mexico were investigated as femicides, with cases reported in each one of Mexico’s 32 states, according to Amnesty International.

Last year, there were 847 reported cases of femicide nationwide – and 162 in the first three months of this year, according to Mexican government figures.