Mexico City: On Wednesday, officials in north-central Mexico confirmed that one in four deaths in the state of Zacatecas around Christmastime involved a United States resident.

José Melesio Gutierrez was identified as the man by the state prosecutor's office. He died "while visiting his fiancée, Daniela Pichardo, in Mexico during the holidays," according to a social media post from the man's employer, the Cincinnati, Ohio, company Champlin Architecture.

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On Christmas Day, Gutierrez and her fiancé went to a nearby town to visit her sister and a distant relative. His skeletal remains were discovered in January, in a secret grave. It was unclear if Gutierrez was a United States citizen.

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According to local media, Gutierrez was in Mexico to set a date for the couple's wedding and there were indications that a criminal gang was active in the area where the bodies were discovered.

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The area is close to the border between the states of Jalisco and Zacatecas, both of which are affected by drug cartel turf wars.