Marco Aurelio Martínez Tijerina

XEDD La Tremenda

July 10, 2010, in Montemorelos, Mexico

Radio reporter Martínez, 45, was abducted July 9 and found shot to death the next day in the city of Montemorelos, state of Nuevo León, according to local news accounts. Gunmen in three vehicles intercepted Martínez while he was driving in Montemorelos and forced him into one of their vehicles, according to the Mexican press group Center for Journalism and Public Ethics.

Local police found his beaten body along a rural road near the northern border of Nuevo León. The journalist had been shot once in the head, according to Agence France-Presse.

Martínez covered a variety of local topics, including politics, but did not generally handle crime or other dangerous assignments, according to a colleague. Martínez, a journalist with more than a decade of experience, also worked as a correspondent for the national media outlets TV Azteca and W Radio. Local authorities did not identify any suspects or disclose a motive.

Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.