Judge frees owner of crematorium where 386 bodies kept for years

Authorities in Chihuahua, Mexico, say they will appeal a federal judge’s decision to free the owner of a crematorium where hundreds of embalmed bodies remained piled in offices and a warehouse for years. The judge on Friday ordered the release of Jose Luis Arellano Cuaron, proprietor of Plenitud crematorium, saying whatever transgressions he committed are an administrative matter, not criminal offenses. The judge ruled Arellano did not hide or improperly dispose of 386 bodies found by police inside a building in the Polo Gamboa neighborhood of south Juarez in June 2025. “This resolution ignores everything we found in that building. It’s impossible this judge can say there was no hiding, no withholding of bodies when ashes were delivered to people,” Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui said. Some of those “ashes” were crushed rock and animal bone fragments, state and federal officials have said.