36 1.4. Method 124. Second, the Commission and the representatives alleged that there were signs of sexual violence in many of the murders. According to a report of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, since 1993, some of the murders and disappearances “have revealed similar characteristics and/or patterns of conduct.”104 125. Diverse reports establish the following common factors in several of the murders: the women were abducted and kept in captivity,105 their next of kin reported their disappearance106 and, after days or months, their bodies were found on empty lots107 with signs of violence, including rape and other types of sexual abuse, torture and mutilation.108 126. Regarding the sexual characteristics of the murders, the State alleged that, according to the figures for 2004, around 26% of the murders were the result of violent sexual acts. 127. Although the Special Prosecutor’s Office concluded that most of the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez were independent of each other and, consequently, had been committed under different circumstances, of time, manner, and occasion,109 it was only notary public by the expert witness Jusidman Rapoport on April 21, 2009 (merits case file, volume XIII, folio 3806). 100 Cf. IACHR, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, supra note 64, folio 1744; Report on Mexico produced by CEDAW, supra note 64, folios 1924 and 1926; Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, supra note 64, folio 2012, and Amnesty International, Intolerable killings, supra note 64, folios 2257 and 2271. 101 Cf. Report on Mexico produced by CEDAW, supra note 64, folios 1924 and 1926; Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, supra note 64, folio 2012; Amnesty International, Intolerable killings, supra note 64, folio 2257; Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Crimes related to the Murders of Women in Ciudad Juárez, Informe Final, supra note 87, folio 14605; statement made before notary public by expert witness Monárrez Fragoso on November 20, 2008 (merits case file, volume XIII, folio 3911), and Comisión para Prevenir y Erradicar la Violencia contra las Mujeres en Ciudad Juárez, Tercer informe de gestión, May 2005-September 2006, citing the Second Progress Report entitled “El feminicidio: formas de ejercer la violencia contra las mujeres” (case file of attachments to the answer to the application, volume XXVII, attachment 12, folio 9016). 102 Cf. IACHR, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, supra note 64, folio 1744; Report on Mexico produced by CEDAW, supra note 64, folios 1924 and 1926; Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, supra note 64, folio 2012, and Amnesty International, Intolerable killings, supra note 64, folios 2257 and 2271. 103 Cf. IACHR, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, supra note 64, folio 1744, and Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, supra note 73, folio 2053. 104 Cf. Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Crimes related to the Murders of Women in Ciudad Juárez, Informe Final, supra note 87, folio 14525. 105 Cf. Report on Mexico produced by CEDAW, supra note 64, folios 1924 and 1927, and Amnesty International, Intolerable killings, supra note 64, folio 2271. 106 Cf. IACHR, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, supra 64, folio 1744. 107 Cf. IACHR, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, supra note 64, folio 1744; Report on Mexico produced by CEDAW, supra note 64, folio 1927, and final report of the Observatorio Ciudadano, supra note 81, folio 6640. 108 Cf. IACHR, The Situation of the Rights of Women in Ciudad Juárez, supra note 64, folio 1744; Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, supra note 73, folio 2052; Amnesty International, Intolerable killings, supra note 64, folio 2271; CNDH, Recomendación 44/1998, supra note 72, folio 2154, and Report on Mexico produced by CEDAW, supra note 64, folio 1927. 109 Cf. Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Crimes related to the Murders of Women in Ciudad Juárez, Informe Final, supra note 87, folio 14608. In this regard, it is worth noting that the Ciudad Juárez Commission indicated that, “[a]lthough it is true that it has been difficult to prove that the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez are related to serial killers, the [Special Prosecutor’s Office] should have analyzed