The body of Diario de Agua Prieta journalist, Saúl Martínez Ortega, was found on 23 April 2007, six days after he was kidnapped by an armed gang. Rosie Palomares, the director of "Diario de Agua Prieta" newspaper, said that when Saul Martínez Ortega's body was found "it was difficult to recognize him, due to the decomposition of his body.”

Palomares added that organised crime is believed to be behind the killing, since the journalist was taken by armed men whom the witnesses did not recognise as police. Saúl Martínez Ortega was kidnapped on 16 April in front of the municipal security office in Agua Prieta. He allegedly tried to escape in his car but the unidentified individuals followed him in their trucks. His abandoned car was later found with bullets inside it.

The journalist's brother, Erick Martínez, has said that it was likely that the motive for his brother's murder was his investigation of the kidnapping of Juan Carlos Sánchez. Sánchez's wife had given the journalist a list of suspects in the kidnapping, which is another reason why the murder is believed to be the work of organised crime.

On 17 April the offices of the Diario Cambio Sonora in the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico were attacked by a grenade. He is the second journalist to disappear in suspicious circumstances in Mexico in 2007.

Front Line believes Saúl Martínez Orteg's abduction and the attack against the offices of Diario Cambio Sonora were related to his investigations into the reported links between local police officials and drug traffickers.