Bodies of 7 women and 3 children found at home of former police officer in El Salvador

El Salvador: The buried bodies of seven women and three children were found on the residential property of an ex-police officer in El Salvador.

The country's attorney general's office stated that Hugo Osorio Chavez Osorio, 51, is being investigated on suspicion of sex crimes and 13 murders.

According to the Associated Press, he was originally arrested last Saturday for the murder of a woman and her adult daughter. The arrest came after neighbours in the western city of Chalchuapa called police and reported how they captured a woman shouting for help.

Officers discovered the bodies of a 57-year-old woman and her 26-year-old daughter in the house in a pool of blood with indications of physical and sexual assault.

The probes led to diggings at various places on the property. Among the remains found were a 7-year-old girl and two boys aged 2 and 9 years.

Police did not elaborate on why the number of murders being investigated was 13.

Some of the people were apparently killed about two years ago, the attorney general's office declared on Twitter. Seven other likely graves on the grounds of the property are still being investigated. At least 25 people are missing in the area.

Chavez Osorio was fired from his post as a police officer in 2005 for sexually offensive behaviour and spent five years in prison, prosecutors stated.

Based on the report in the matter, police issued arrest warrants for 9 other people who may have served as associates in 13 murders, including the murders of eight women.