Overnight traffic on the Pan American Highway turned into a crime scene early Tuesday when a man's body, apparently hung from an overpass near the Santa Teresa–Tornillo exit, was knocked loose and struck by passing semis, authorities said. Witnesses told police the victim had been suspended from the bridge until a heavy truck hit the body, sending it crashing onto the asphalt, where other vehicles dragged it along the roadway. Police said the man's hands and feet were bound. His identity and precise cause of death are still under review as forensic teams work the case.
What investigators found
According to El Diario de Juárez, a 911 call came in around 12:45 a.m. reporting a body hanging from the bridge. Municipal police and National Guard units arrived to find the victim already on the pavement after being hit by a tractor-trailer. Specialists from the Peritos unit and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación stayed at the scene for hours, piecing together how the body ended up first on the overpass and then under the wheels of highway traffic.
Scene and victim details
Local coverage says the man was discovered with his hands and feet tied, and that the Servicio Médico Forense took the remains for a necropsy, according to Net Noticias. Authorities sealed off that stretch of the Pan American Highway and diverted traffic while forensic teams collected physical evidence and photographed the scene.
Cartel links under review
State investigators are treating the case as a homicide and are examining whether it is tied to a turf dispute in the Juárez Valley, Quadratín Chihuahua reported. No arrests have been announced, and officials say forensic findings will be central to pinning down both a motive and the victim's identity.
A separate police source told CBS42 the hanging may be connected to a clash between La Línea and a Sinaloa cartel cell, though municipal authorities have not publicly confirmed that account. Investigators noted that early, off-the-record theories often shift once lab work and witness statements are fully analyzed.
Broader context
The killing comes just days after Mexican security forces carried out an operation that killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a move that triggered a wave of retaliatory violence across several states, according to Al Jazeera. Officials have warned that the resulting unrest has sharpened local criminal rivalries and complicated travel in parts of the country.
History at the site
The Santa Teresa–Tornillo overpass has a grim track record. It has been used before for public displays of violence. Norte de Ciudad Juárez has documented at least four homicides at that location in recent years, including two bodies left hanging there on June 13, 2025. In that earlier case, authorities also found an abandoned vehicle, containers of fuel and a written message left at the scene.
What investigators say next
Officials say they are waiting on full forensic results to determine how the victim died and to formally confirm who he was. By Tuesday afternoon, no suspects had been named, local outlets reported. Authorities urged anyone with video, dashcam footage or other information to contact the Fiscalía General del Estado or local police, as the investigation continues, according to El Universal.
