The body of a killed journalist Rafael Murua Manriquez, 34, was found in northwestern Mexico, Reuters reported. 

Murua was fatally wounded in the thorax, state prosecutors said, without elaborating.

According to the advocacy group Article 19, which defends freedom of expression and access to information, Murua was director of a community radio station in the state and had been in a program affording protection to journalists at risk since 2017.

The Article has fixed the murder of 122 journalists in Mexico since 2000. Murders in Mexico increased by a third to more than 33,000 last year.