Bodies found burned, buried in suspected 'narco-grave' near Palomas, Mexico

Chihuahua state police investigators have discovered four bodies buried in a suspected "narco-grave" as a search continues in the rough desert near the border village of Palomas, authorities said.

Forensic investigators are trying to determine the causes of death and identify the remains of the four people found in a plot of communal land named Ejido 6 de Enero, the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office said.

The buried bodies were all in advanced stages of decomposition, but at least one was that of a man who had been burned, state officials said.

Borderland:Woman convicted of leading El Paso-to-Dallas migrant smuggling ring sentenced to prison

The first body was found May 31 during a search that included police dogs, the Mexican army and the National Guard. Three more clandestine graves were then located.

Body parts, bone fragments, bullets and other evidence also were found at the scene, authorities said. It has not been disclosed what led investigators to search the area.

The bodies were found on desert land close to Palomas near Mexican Federal Highway 2, a roadway that connects to Juárez.

Palomas, formally named Puerto Palomas de Villa, is a small village across the border from Columbus, New Mexico, about a 90-minute drive west of El Paso.

More:'Terrorista' suspect arrested in Juárez shopping mall bombings

Clandestine burial sites used by drug cartels to dispose of victims of abductions, torture and killings are fairly common in Mexico.

Last week, 45 bags of human remains were found in a gorge on the outskirts of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco during the search for more than a half-dozen young people who worked at a call center and went missing.

There are more than 110,000 people missing in Mexico, according to federal government data, the Associated Press reported.