Chicago couple missing for weeks in Mexico has been found dead, friends say

A Chicago area couple who recently moved to Mexico and has been missing for nearly a month has been found dead, family friends said.

For weeks, friends back home in Chicago feared this tragic outcome. 

Zafar Mawani and Guillermo Ortiz vanished on May 20 after reportedly leaving their home near Mexico City to buy a chair lift for Mawani's ailing mother.

Friends described them as extremely kind and trusting of others.

Mexican authorities released missing person flyers for the couple, who lived in Chicago and Oak Park for decades, and moved to Mexico last fall.

"He wanted to show his husband how beautiful Mexico is. So they were going everywhere, dressing very glamourous, even though we told them to be safe," said friend Maggie Reynoso, who owns Pilsen Vintage.

Reynoso used to style Ortiz, but said they quickly became friends.

"Guillermo … doesn't think that anybody would do any harm," she said. "Somebody who did this to him doesn't have a heart."

Weeks after the couple went missing, Reynoso said friends and family were notified that their bodies were found and several arrests were made. Reynoso said suspicious bank activity and withdrawals were made to their accounts.

"It was horrible, because in Mexico so many people go missing every day," Reynoso said. 

Families with loved ones among Mexico's more than 130,000 missing people protested outside the start of the World Cup to call out what they say is a lack of government action.

"I know that, because they are American citizens, they found them," Reynoso said.

Now as friends and family mourn the loss of both men, they are pushing for answers and accountability. 

"I still can't believe that it's real," Reynoso said.

Mexican authorities have not released much official information or details surrounding the deaths, but they said the investigation remains open and active.