The charred remains of a missing reporter have been found in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, bringing to seven the number of journalists murdered in that country this year.

Salvador Adame, director of the local television station 6TV, was abducted May 18 in the city of Nueva Italia, 400 kilometers west of Mexico City.

State officials said Monday that Adame’s burned remains were found in mid-June and were identified with DNA testing.

Adame’s abduction came after prominent journalist Javier Valdez was pulled out of his car and killed in broad daylight in Culiacan, in Mexico’s Sinaloa state.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says 40 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1992 for reasons confirmed as related to their work. An additional 50 were slain during the same period under circumstances that have not been clarified.

At least four of the reporters killed this year were murdered in direct retaliation for their work, according to the CPJ, making Mexico the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for media workers.

On Monday, federal prosecutors in Mexico said they would ask for help from the FBI and other international groups in investigating reports of high-tech spying against journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico.
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