Officials said skeletal remains found in the Mexican border state of Chihua have been sent to a laboratory for possible identification.

Mexican authorities have discovered 12 bodies in clandestine graves in the northern border state of Chihuahua.

Authorities found the skeletons in 11 graves on Ascension Island, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Ciudad Juárez, near the U.S. border, the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement Thursday.

Investigators began exploring the desolate site on December 18 and expanded their search over the following days.

They eventually discovered 11 separate shallow pits into which more than a dozen bodies had been dumped.

The remains were sent to the National Forensic Laboratory for possible identification and, if possible, the cause of death.

Chihuahua has been hit for years by violence linked to organized crime that serves as a route for drug trafficking and migrant smuggling into the United States.

According to official figures, the state has recorded 3,927 missing persons since 1952.

Approximately 120,000 people live in Mexico considered missing amid years of violence and instability.

Relatives of most missing persons are left to search for their loved ones on their own, often forming volunteer search teams. into the desert Find the secret tomb.

It’s unclear whether these volunteer groups helped authorities find Ascension’s grave.