Volkswacht Bodensee - Mother searching for missing Mexicans killed along with son

Maria del Carmen Morales was shot late Wednesday in Jalisco state, the prosecutor's office said, adding that initial indications were that the crime was unrelated to her activism.

Morales, 43, belonged to the Guerreros Buscadores collective, whose discovery of bones, shoes and clothing at a suspected drug cartel training camp in March shocked Mexico.

The grisly find shone a spotlight on forced recruitment and other tactics employed by criminal gangs in a country where more than 120,000 people are missing.

Morales was killed when she came to the defense of her 26-year-old son Daniel Ramirez when he was attacked by two men on a motorcycle, the prosecutor's office said.

Another one of her sons had gone missing last year.

The prosecutor's office said there was no evidence so far linking Morales's murder to her search for missing persons.

Guerreros Buscadores called for an "immediate and thorough investigation."

Civil society groups formed by relatives who denounce government inaction risk their own lives searching for remains in unmarked graves, often in areas where cartel gunmen are active.

M.Schneider--VB