The body of a missing female mayoral candidate was found decapitated on Wednesday in northern Guerrero, a notorious gang- and drug-ridden southwestern state in Mexico.

Prosecutors say that the 42-year-old politician, Aide Nava, was kidnapped on Tuesday in the town of Ahuacuotzingo, where she was running to become mayor in the upcoming June elections, reports Reuters.

Nava's slain body was discovered on Wednesday near the state capital city of Chilpancingo along with a note written by the gang Los Rojos threatening other elected officials who failed to "fall in line," reports BBC News. Nava was a member of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution.

Last year, her son was kidnapped and remains missing to this day. Her husband, a former mayor of Ahuacuotzingo, was also murdered in 2014.

Because of the high level of violence, there are doubts that elections can take place in Guerrero on June 7.

Back in September 2014, an egregious act of violence in Guerrero sparked international outrage and protest after 43 student-teachers were allegedly kidnapped by local police and handed over to a criminal gang to be murdered.

The former mayor of the southern Mexican city of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, was charged with murder and attempted murder in connection to the disappearance of 43 student-teachers.

According to authorities, Abarca ordered police and a gang to attack the students in order to prevent them from derailing a speech set to be delivered by his wife, reports the Los Angeles Times.

After police opened fire on the students, the surviving students were rounded up by members of the local drug-trafficking gang, Guerreros Unidos, which reportedly had ties with the former mayor. The gang then burned the victims on a pyre and pulverized their teeth and bones to prevent them from being identified.

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