CANCUN?A Mexican woman abducted more than a month ago and left for dead managed to escape alive after being dumped in a well where police later found three rotting bodies, an official said Tuesday.

"Apparently she was thought to be dead," said Francisco Alor, prosecutor of eastern Quintana Roo state, who said the woman was reported missing around 40 days ago and emerged on Monday.

The woman smelled of decomposing flesh and had maggots crawling on her body, which led authorities to search the well for corpses, Alor said.

They later found the remains of three men, one of whom local media said had been cut up while another had been covered in tape in signs typical of score-settling between drug gangs.

More than 22,700 people have died in spiraling suspected drug gang violence since the end of 2006, according to official figures.