Last fall, two bikers came across a grisly scene outside of Depostlan, a popular town just south of Mexico City.

It was a woman's body, dumped underneath a highway bridge.

Unfortunately, this is a much too common scene in Mexico.

The country has struggled for years with high rates of

femicide, and many murdered women are simply never identified.

But this victim was Ariadna Lopez,

and Mexico hopefully won't soon forget her.

I'm Gustavo Riano.

You're listening to The Times.

Essential news from the LA Times.

It's Monday, March 20, 2003.

Today, how one woman's death sparked a public outcry in Mexico,

but will fear of holding perpetrators accountable limit progress in addressing longstanding violence against women?

Here to talk to me about all this is my L.A. Times colleague,

Mexico City beer chief Patrick McDonnell.

Patrick, welcome the Times. A pleasure, Gustavo. Times colleague, Mexico City beer chief, Patrick McDonnell. Patrick, welcome the Times.

A pleasure, God. So sadly, you and I have seen femicide happen all across Mexico for decades,

like the murdered women of Juarez on the border that made international headlines at the 1990s and 2000s,

and authorities always pledged to do

something about them. But just how common is femicide, that is, the murder of women and girls,

in Mexico? Well, I mean, it's been a huge problem for a long time. I mean, the statistics

are something like 10 women or girls are killed daily. In most of these

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