Location: Mexico, Mexico City
Date: February 23, 2022

Authorities have confirmed the death of missing television host Michelle Perez Tadeo, known as Michell Simon. Her body was found wrapped in sheets in the south of the capital, Mexico City, on February 22, 2022.  Her death, if confirmed as murder, would make her the sixth Mexican journalist to be killed in the past two months. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled at the spate of journalist killings in the country. We mourn the loss of Michelle and demand an immediate and transparent probe into her death. 

Michelle, a television host and a model, was reported missing for three days before her body was found. On Tuesday, February 22, authorities found her body in the southwestern Santo Tomas Ajusco neighborhood, Tlalpan district in Mexico city. Her death was confirmed reportedly after firefighters on duty at a nearby Picacho-Ajusco highway spotted her body and alerted the local authorities. 

The cause of death has yet to be ascertained while the police claim to be investigating the death through multiple angles. Police have conducted inspections and interviews with witnesses at the scene, wrote police spokesperson Ulices Lara Lopex, Reuters reported. 

Michelle’s death is the latest in a string of journalist killings in the country in the first two months of 2022. Media protection groups and activists suspect criminal groups and drug gangs, as well as corrupt officials, disgruntled by reporters’ work, to be behind many of the killings. 

Earlier this year, the CFWIJ reported the killing of Lourdes Maldonado López, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the northern border city of Tijuana. She was the third journalist to have been murdered in the country in 2022 and had alerted the authorities to threats to her life. Lourdes killing came less than a week after the murder of photojournalist Margarito Martínez in the same city. Prior to that, crime journalist José Luis Gamboa Arenas was killed in Veracruz. 

At least two more media workers were killed after Lourdes, making Michelle’s apparent murder the sixth journalist killing in Mexico January 1, 2022. The alarming rise in violence against media workers this year raises further concerns for journalists’ safety and well-being in the country, which has consistently ranked among the deadliest countries in the world for members of the press.  

Last week, journalists in the northern border city of Tijuana held protests against the recent spell of violence against media workers. They called on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to ensure safety for media workers. Similar protests were held across Mexico in January 2022. 

The fresh spate of violence against journalists has also drawn the attention of the international community. "I join those calling for greater accountability and protections for Mexican journalists. My heart goes out to the loved ones of those who gave their lives for the truth,” wroteUS Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Twitter, commenting on recent killings.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is horrified at the death of Michelle Perez Tadeo and calls for an immediate investigation into her apparent murder. Mexico, which ranks 143 on the Press Freedom Index, is among the deadliest countries in the world for media workers with at least 150 killed since 2000. We call on the Mexican authorities to end impunity for crimes against members of the press. The country must ensure a safe environment for journalists to do their jobs.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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