MEXICO CITY -- Bodies found dumped in a well in northeastern Mexico may be those of the 18 musicians and staff of a band that went missing after a Thursday night performance, authorities said. 
 
 
 
 The members of Kombo Kolombia were reported missing Friday by family members who said they lost contact with the group after it performed at a bar along a highway about 30 miles north of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon state. 
 
 
 
 On Monday, Gov. Rodrigo Medina told reporters that early signs indicated the bodies discovered the day before in the community of Mina are probably the missing members of Kombo Kolombia. Medina said four bodies had so far been positively identified as members of the band but that authorities were holding off on confirming that the entire group was found until each victim was accounted for. 
 
 
 
 Jesus Valencia, a Nuevo Leon state spokesman, told The Times that 18 bodies were found in a well with a water wheel at an abandoned ranch near the group's last known whereabouts, a bar called La Carreta, where the band played Thursday night. 
 
 
 
 After the band's performance, 10 armed men entered the bar and ordered Kombo Kolombia and their staff into waiting vehicles, Valencia said. One of the members managed to escape after the kidnapping and told authorities he watched as band mates were beaten and interrogated. The captors then began executing the musicians, the witness told officials. 
 
 
 
 His identity was not released, but the spokesman said the musician was under state guard and cooperating with the investigation. 
 
 
 
 News reports said eight bodies had been pulled out by noon Monday, some wearing clothing described as similar to the band's costumes, and showing signs of shooting injuries and torture. 
 
 
 
 At least one musician in the group was a Colombian national, authorities said, but no other details were provided. 
 
 
 
 Forensic investigators were on the scene and family members were providing DNA samples to help with identification of the bodies. There were no details on who kidnapped the band or why it might have been targeted. 
 
 
 
 "We assume their killers are related to some kind of criminal group," Valencia said. "They could have played a song someone did not like or said something someone did not like. We don't know." 
 
 
 
 Kombo Kolombia was known to play a style of Colombian music called vallenato, which is related to the imported cumbia genre that is widely popular in Monterrey and now considered a staple of the region's culture. The band was young and did not have a national profile in a country where many large musical groups earn a living playing at festivals, dance halls, and parties in the countryside. 
 
 
 
 According to reports, Kombo Kolombia was a fixture on the nightclub scene in Monterrey, but was not known to play the popular narcocorrido ballads that glorify the exploits of drug lords. Nuevo Leon is one of the most violent states in Mexico, as the Sinaloa and Zetas cartels and their allies fight for dominance of key trafficking routes north to the U.S. border. 
 
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 Amid controversy, Israel issues new birth-control guidelines ||||| Authorities in northern Mexico still have no leads after searching two days for 20 people with a Colombian-style band who went missing after a private performance at a bar, an official with the Nuevo Leon State Investigation Agency said Sunday. 
 
 The 20 people include 15 members of Kombo Kolombia and the band's crew. 
 
 People living near the bar in Hidalgo municipality north of Monterrey reported hearing gunshots about 4 a.m. Friday, following by the sound of vehicles speeding away, said the source with the state agency. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by the news media. 
 
 The officials added that gunfire is common in the area, and said investigators found spent bullets nearby. 
 
 Relatives filed an official report about their missing loved ones on Friday, after they lost cellular telephone contact with them following the Thursday night performance. When family members went to the bar to investigate, they found the band members' vehicles still parked outside. 
 
 For three years, Kombo Kolombia has played a Colombian style of music known as vallenato, which is popular in Nuevo Leon state. Most of the group's musicians were from the area, and have held large concerts in addition to bar performances. 
 
 Nuevo Leon state officials said one of those missing is a Colombian citizen with Mexican residency. 
 
 Members of other musical bands, usually groups that performed "narcocorridos" celebrating the exploits of drug traffickers, have been killed in Mexico in recent years. But Kombo Kolombia did not play that type of music and its lyrics did not deal with violence or drug trafficking.
– Members of a Colombian-style band who disappeared after a gig in northern Mexico last week have become the latest musicians to be kidnapped and murdered by drug gangs, authorities fear. The 16-man Kombo Kolombia band and four of its roadies were reported missing early Friday; investigators have now discovered at least eight bodies dumped in a well in the area, the AP reports. The band members were Mexican but played Colombian-style vallenato music, which is not normally associated with drug gangs, the International Business Times reports. After the band played a private show in a bar north of Monterrey last Thursday night, people reported hearing gunshots and vehicles speeding away. The band members' empty vehicles were found outside the bar.