After Mexican authorities found four people shot to death near the border city of Matamoros, DNA testing has confirmed that three of the bodies belonged to U.S. citizens who had gone missing two weeks ago while on a visit to Mexico, according to a statement issued late Friday by the Tamaulipas state prosecutor's office. The fourth body is believed to be one of the American victim's 32-year-old Mexican boyfriend who had disappeared along with them.
The victims were identified as 26-year-old Erica Alvarado, 22-yer-old Alex Alvarado and 21-year-old Jose Angel Alvarado by their father Pedro Alvarado in a morgue in Matamoros, mother Raquel Alvarado said, adding that DNA tests officially confirmed it on Thursday.
On Oct. 13, the three U.S. citizens had disappeared from the city of Progreso while visiting their father in the rural town of Control, Tamaulipas, according to their mother, who added that witnesses had reported the three siblings to have been taken away from a restaurant by armed men who identified themselves as part of the "Hercules" tactical security unit from the Matamoros police force.
On Wednesday morning, Mexican authorities discovered the bodies, shot execution style and burned, in a rural road near Los Cuervos community near Matamoros, with Tamaulipas officials stating that they were investigating a possible police connection to the deaths, the Associated Press reported.
"The fourth body was identified as that of Jose Guadalupe Castañeda who the mother identified as Erica's boyfriend who lived in Control. A law enforcement official who spoke with Breitbart Texas confirmed that Castaneda was a local crime boss that went by the name El Negro and was involved in the trade of stolen fuel for the Gulf Cartel in the area," according to Breitbart.
"While the case is still in its early stages, authorities are looking at Castaneda's suspected criminal ties to see if they played a role in the murder."
Meanwhile, apart from nine officers from the Hercules Group being investigated, City Clerk Joe Mariano Vega, the unit's director, and city public safety director Juan Sanchez are also being questioned, Tamaulipas state Attorney General Ismael Quintanilla Acosta said Friday.
In addition, Tamaulipas governor Egidio Torre Cantu issued a public statement on Thursday claiming that authorities would double theie efforts to solve the crime. However, Matamoros officials have still not made any comments about the case.
"Since 2010, the border cities just south of the Texas border have been the scene of constant violence since the main criminal organization in the area, the Gulf Cartel, went to war with their former enforcers, the Zetas, and then went through a series of fractures that caused the organization to implode into various factions," according to Breitbart.
