Authorities recovered a man’s body from an irrigation canal in Mexicali on Friday after the remains were found lodged against a sluice gate on Calle Eucalipto near Calle Novena. The body found in the Mexicali canal was in an advanced state of decomposition, and the victim has not been identified.
The man was wearing a construction work vest and carrying a backpack at the time of discovery. Firefighters performed extraction maneuvers to remove the body from the canal gate where it had become trapped.
Investigation Underway in Mexicali
Municipal police and investigators from the Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), Baja California’s state attorney general’s office, cordoned off the scene. They have opened a formal investigation into the death.
Because of the advanced decomposition, authorities said they could not immediately determine whether violence played a role. The cause of death remains unknown. Officials have not released any details about how long the body may have been in the water.
Identity Still Unknown
The victim’s identity has not been established. The work vest and backpack suggest the man may have been a construction laborer, though investigators have not confirmed this. No missing persons reports have been publicly linked to the case.
Mexicali’s canal system runs throughout the city and the surrounding agricultural valley, carrying irrigation water from the Colorado River. The canals, many of them unguarded and running through residential neighborhoods, have been the site of previous body recoveries. In August 2024, mutilated remains were found in a canal near the city’s water treatment plant. In a separate case last December, a body was discovered inside a suitcase in a drainage canal in the Mexicali Valley.
Calle Eucalipto sits in an urban area of central Mexicali, about three miles south of the Calexico border crossing. The neighborhood sees regular foot and vehicle traffic.
Authorities have asked anyone with information to contact local police. No further details have been released. The story was first reported by The Baja Post.