Politician addresses serial killer fears after 3 women found dead in resort town and reveals chilling details
A Mexican politician is breaking ranks with the official line and warning that a serial killer may be targeting women in one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.
Three women have been found dead in Puerto Vallarta in recent weeks, with the body count across the wider state of Jalisco now standing at seven femicides.
The cases share a deeply unsettling detail: in at least two, possibly three of the killings, the victims' blouses had been pulled up over their bodies when they were discovered.
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Yussara Canales, a state legislator representing Puerto Vallarta's 5th district, told the New York Post that it was precisely this detail that first raised suspicions of a serial killer operating in the area.
"It was this specific detail that initially led to the suspicion of a serial killer," she said.
What do we know about the Puerto Vallarta victims?
Two of the women found dead remain unidentified. The first, believed to be around 30 years old and wearing a blue blouse, was discovered on May 10 on Victor Itiburde Avenue near the El Pirulí ranch, lying on her back with cuts on both wrists.
Five days later, a second woman aged between 35 and 40 was found dead near the upscale Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta, a 4.5-star resort, showing signs of a blow to the head.
Neither woman has been named.
A third case involves Elizabeth Galindo, 25, who was reported missing from the State of Mexico on April 29 and found dead in Puerto Vallarta on May 21 with multiple signs of violence and bruising to her face.
The state prosecutor's office has officially ruled out any link between her death and the other two, a conclusion Canales flatly rejects.
How many women were murdered in Puerto Vallarta?
The wider picture is stark. Five women were murdered in Puerto Vallarta in just the first five months of 2026, compared to three in the whole of last year.
Canales has a theory about why authorities are so eager to dismiss the serial killer angle, and it comes down to money and football.
Puerto Vallarta sits just 52 minutes by air from Guadalajara, which is hosting four World Cup games in June. The city, made famous internationally as a port of call on the classic TV show The Love Boat, has a tourism-dependent economy that officials are apparently reluctant to spook.
"Let me tell you why I think they did it: because, sadly, this news is making international headlines. It is leaving our port city in a very bad light," Canales said.
"Perhaps this is the attorney general's office's way of trying to counteract all the negative notoriety our municipality is currently receiving."
For Canales, the stakes go beyond politics. "I do believe this is something that puts us very much on alert, something that compels us women to be far more cautious and, sadly, to live in fear," she said.
Topics: Mexico, Crime, World News
Thomas Bamford