Work colleagues concerned by the disappearance of radio journalist José Emilio Galindo Robles found his body yesterday at his Ciudad Guzmán home, according to local media reports. Investigators have since confirmed that a skull fracture was the cause of death in a presumed murder.

Galindo Robles, the director of Guadalajara University Radio, specialised in investigating and covering environmental issues. In 2004 he was awarded first prize in the prestigious Bienal Nacional de Radio (Biennial Radio National) for his reporting on private firms dumping toxic waste in the Santiago River.

Colleagues of Galindo Robles became concerned when he did not appear at work for a few days. They found his body yesterday, gagged and with his hands tied to a bed, at his home in the Jalisco State city of Guzmán.

Official sources have since announced that deep bruising and a skull fracture were the cause of death, and the State prosecutor has launched an investigation, according to media reports.

“In no other country are journalists more frequently singled out and murdered for carrying out their work than in Mexico,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “We therefore call on the authorities to clear up the circumstances surrounding this death with urgency.”