She’s been labeled a “heroine of the 21st century,” a symbol of defiance in México’s fight against the country’s ruthless drug cartels -- and possibly bullet-proof, after surviving two assassination attempts. 

But when Mexican police identified the body of a half-nude, tortured and mutilated woman on a rural road in the state of Michoacán, María Santos Gorrostieta also became another statistic in the country’s grisly drug war.

The discovery of her body ended the suspicion of what happened to the former mayor of the small town of Tiquicheo, who stood up to the cartels.