Who is Miguel Cortés, the ‘Mexican Jeffrey Dahmer’?

This article contains graphic descriptions of murder and sexual abuse. Please read with caution.

A previously unknown serial killer was possibly uncovered in April 2024 in Mexico City when 39-year-old Miguel Cortés was arrested for raping and murdering a teenage girl and stabbing her mother. After his arrest, authorities found evidence in Cortés’ apartment leading some to call him the “Mexican Jeffrey Dahmer.”

Early on April 16, 2024, Cassandra Calles returned to her home in Mexico City to find Cortés, her neighbor, in the bedroom of her daughter, María José Castillo, Fox 11 reported. Castillo had been raped and strangled and was already dead, and when Calles tried to prevent Cortés from fleeing he stabbed her too, but she survived. “[Cassandra] has a stab wound on her leg, neck, left lung, and pelvic area,” Cassandra’s sister, Angela, told the press.

Neighbors intervened and detained Cortés until the police arrived and arrested him. Security footage also showed Cortés approaching the home after Cassandra left that morning. With Cortés in custody, authorities searched the pharmaceutical chemist’s room and made several gruesome discoveries suggesting the 17-year-old’s rape and murder, and the brutal knife attack on her mother, were not isolated incidents.

Miguel Cortés may have killed as many as 20 women

Inside Miguel Cortés’ room, police found blood stains, a saw, bones, cell phones, and ID cards of as many as 20 missing women, the AP reported. “Biological material” was also recovered, although Mexican authorities did not specify what that was. The evidence, Mexico City prosecutor Ulises Lara said, indicates “we are looking at a possible serial killer of women.” Journal notebooks were also found recording Cortés’ alleged murders, Lara added.

Mundo Now says Cortés confessed to being a victim of sexual abuse from his father, and said he was angry at his mother and sister for not stopping what happened. Cortés arrest is controversial in Mexico, where police are often accused of not thoroughly investigating missing women.

To date, Cortés has been linked to at least eight women, including María José Castillo, and authorities were working to identify the remains found inside his residence. One missing woman linked to Cortés was his romantic partner.

What’s known so far about Cortés bears many similarities to how Jeffrey Dahmer killed his victims and dealt with their remains. Like Dahmer, some outlets report that Cortés may have also engaged in necrophilia. The Milwaukee serial killer was convicted in 1992 of murdering and dismembering 15 men and sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences. Dahmer later died in prison.

If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.