MCALLEN, Texas — Just a day after Mexican authorities found four bodies near the border city of Matamoros, Mexico relatives confirmed that the bodies belonged to three U.S. citizens who went missing two weeks ago.
On Thursday afternoon, Raquel Alvarado said that her ex-husband had gone to the morgue in Matamoros and had identified 26-year-old Erica Alvarado, 22-yer-old Alex Alvarado and 21-year-old Jose Angel Alvarado.
The three U.S. citizens from the city of Progreso went missing on October 13 when they had gone to visit their father in the rural town of Control, Tamaulipas and according to their mother they were taken by Matamoros police.
On Wednesday morning, Mexican authorities found four bodies in a rural road near Los Cuervos community near Matamoros. According to investigators the bodies had been shot execution style and been torched before getting dumped.
While Mexican media reported on Thursday morning that the bodies were those of the three missing Alvarado siblings and were quick to blame Matamoros police, it wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that Raquel Alvarado got confirmation that the bodies were those of her missing children.
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 stole fuel for the Gulf Cartel in the area. 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 their murder.
Since the disappearance Raquel Alvarado has spoken to multiple news outlets on both side of the border and claimed that the Mexican government has not done anything to help find her sons and daughter.
On Thursday, Tamaulipas governor Egidio Torre Cantu issued a public statement claiming that authorities would double their efforts to solve the crime. State prosecutors began interrogating several members of the Hercules Group, a tactical team from the Matamoros police force that is accused of having taken part in the disappearance.
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. The fighting has resulted in fierce hours-long shootouts that have resulted in scores of fatalities and a media blackout where Mexican outlets refuse to report on the violence.
Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter @ildefonsoortiz
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