SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — A so-called forensic cemetery in Baja California, where the remains of unidentified and unclaimed bodies are to be buried, is about to become a reality after three years in the making.
The land has been graded and construction has begun at a site in Mexicali, Baja California’s capital city.
The idea for the cemetery first surfaced in 2019 when Jaime Bonilla was governor, but he wanted the burial place to be built in Tijuana.
Political struggles ensued over the cemetery’s location, then the coronavirus pandemic evolved and the plan was shelved.
On Thursday, construction began on the 100,000-square-foot lot.
According to the state of Baja California, the project will cost 14 million pesos or about $850,000.
The cemetery will have space for 800 bodies that will be kept there for seven years until they are moved to a medical examiner’s forensic lab.
The site will replace a “common pit” where bodies are now buried.
According to the state’s medical examiner’s office, last year, they stored more than 1,700 bodies with only 322 eventually claimed by relatives.
The rest were placed in the common grave site.
The “forensic cemetery” is expected to be finished by early next year.
