A passerby discovered the body of a young man with multiple gunshot wounds on a rural road near the village of San José de la Zorra in Valle de Guadalupe on Monday morning, June 8. The victim was found along a dirt track in the Francisco Zarco delegation of Ensenada, roughly 30 minutes northeast of the city center.
Spent shell casings were recovered at the scene beside the body. Authorities have not released the victim’s identity or age. The Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), Baja California’s state attorney general’s office, has taken over the investigation.
Second Killing in Valle de Guadalupe in Days
The discovery marks the second violent death in the Valle de Guadalupe area in less than a week. On June 5, a U.S. resident was killed in the same region after reportedly being kidnapped. Authorities have not publicly linked the two cases.
Valle de Guadalupe is best known as the heart of Baja California’s wine country. The area, located along the Ensenada-Tecate highway corridor, draws thousands of visitors each year to its wineries, restaurants, and tasting rooms. San José de la Zorra sits on the outskirts of the main wine route, in a more remote, mountainous area home to a small Kumiai indigenous community.
A Pattern of Violence in Wine Country
Violent crime in the Valle de Guadalupe corridor is not new. In February 2021, six men were shot dead across the Ensenada municipality in a 24-hour span. Four of those killings occurred along the wine route, including a triple homicide on the Ensenada-Tecate highway near Francisco Zarco.
The latest incidents come during the early summer season, when visitor traffic to the valley typically increases. The FGE has not issued any public warnings or travel restrictions for the area. No arrests have been announced in connection with the June 8 killing.
Visitors traveling to Valle de Guadalupe should be aware that the main wine route runs along a paved highway, but many side roads leading to smaller communities like San José de la Zorra are unpaved and isolated. Cellphone service can be unreliable off the main road.
The story was first reported by Ensenada.net and confirmed by El Imparcial and El Mexicano.