Missing gay couple from Chicago found dead in mass grave outside of Mexico City

This story originally appeared on Them.A gay couple from Chicago who were living in Mexico City have been found dead in a grave that included two other bodies, per Chicago ABC affiliate WLS.Zafar Padamsee Mawani and Guillermo Jaffet Hidalgo Ortiz had been missing since May, per WLS. The couple had only recently moved to Mexico in October and were living in a neighborhood in the southern part of Mexico City. The bodies were found on June 17 in a wooded area on the outskirts of Mexico City, per People.The couple went missing on May 20 while trying to get equipment from a contractor for Mawani’s mother, who is living with Alzheimer’s, per CBS News. People with knowledge of the case said that there had also been unusual withdrawals from the couple’s bank accounts, per NBC Chicago and the Associated Press.“It was horrible, because in Mexico so many people go missing every day,” Maggie Reynoso, a friend who used to style Ortiz, told CBS News.Reynoso said that “they were going everywhere, dressing very glamourous, even though we told them to be safe.” She continued, “Guillermo … doesn’t think that anybody would do any harm,” she said. “Somebody who did this to him doesn't have a heart.”Over 130,000 people are currently deemed missing or have disappeared in Mexico, per the Guardian. While the disappearances began to surge in the 2000s, they have increased by more than 200% in the last decade.Five people, including a former police officer, were arrested in connection with the four bodies that were found together, according to People. The former officer, identified only as Yesenia V., was the alleged leader of a kidnapping and robbery gang.GLAAD released a statement in memory of Ortiz and Mawani on Instagram.“Our hearts are with everyone who loved Guillermo Ortiz and Zafar Mawani, a Chicago couple who were found killed in Mexico after they were missing for several weeks,” the post reads. “May Guillermo and Zafar rest in peace.” View this post