MIGUEL ALEMAN, Mex. – People with relatives who disappeared in Mexico are watching a massive body identification effort unfold in Tamaulipas.

The federal government is working to identify thousands of people they believe to be victims of violence and who were buried without following identification protocols.

It starts in Miguel Aleman, where authorities will be exhuming bodies. They will then move on to Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Cd. Victoria and Reynosa.

The regional director of the Human Rights Commission in Nuevo Laredo told CHANNEL 5 NEWS they’re focusing on Tamaulipas because it has the most cases of people missing.

People are encouraged to first go to their nearest Mexican attorney general’s office and report their relative as missing.