The forensic experts who have been digging in the yard of a Juárez house for two weeks have now found 33 bodies, making all other mass-grave discoveries pale in comparison, officials with the Mexican attorney general's office said.

The house is the second location where federal officers have been digging in Juárez since the beginning of the year, following an anonymous tip. Nine bodies were found in the first house last month.

The 33 bodies at the second back yard on Pedregal Street in the La Cuesta neighborhood were found in 14 graves.

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Officials said they had been buried about five years ago, and three appeared to be women.

Officials still haven't released the identities of the victims.

Jaime Hervella, founder of the Association of Relatives and Friends of Disappeared Persons in El Paso, said members of the association wondered whether their missing loved ones were among the dead.

The association represents the families of about 200 American and Mexican men who have disappeared in Juárez since the 1990s and are believed to have been killed by drug traffickers.

"There's tremendous anguish in the people who are calling us constantly asking, 'When are they going to tell us?' " he said. "Everybody is speculating about what is happening."

According to information released by the Mexican attorney general's office, the 33 new bodies are tied to another grave where six bodies were found in Chihuahua City in January.

"The work started after receiving an anonymous

call that gave the address of a house tied to the Juárez drug cartel É in Chihuahua, saying there were people buried there, that's what started the investigation," officials said in a written statement.

Other Juárez mass-grave cases tied to drug violence were 12 bodies found in 2004 and nine bodies found in 1999.

Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com; 546-6131.