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Slayings in TJ
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| TSG |
Investigators gather clues in 4 slayings
TIJUANA — A letter sent from a California prison inmate, an identification card picked up in a Tijuana house, and numerous interviews with friends and family members are helping Baja California investigators piece together the events that led to last week's killings of four San Diego County residents. The victims' bodies, found strangled, stabbed and beaten, were discovered Saturday inside a parked Ford Aerostar van with California plates in an eastern Tijuana neighborhood.
Mexican authorities described the victims as young Mexican-Americans who frequently crossed from San Diego to party in Tijuana. The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana confirmed yesterday that all four were U.S. citizens: Brianna Hernandez Aguilera, 19; Carmen Jimena Ramos Chavez, 20; Oscar Jorge Garcia Cota, 23; and Luis Antonio Gamez, 21. “We are presuming that these people had connections in Mexico and the United States with criminals,” Baja California Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez said in an interview.
A key piece of evidence is a letter sent to Hernandez by a woman serving time in a California prison on a drug charge, Moreno said. He described the letter's tone as threatening and said “we are reviewing the text of the letter, line by line, with great seriousness.”
Family members have declined requests for interviews. Moreno said they have been cooperating with U.S. and Mexican investigators, providing information about the victims' relationships and backgrounds.
Relatives of the two women, both Chula Vista residents, have told investigators that the women went to Tijuana on Thursday night to party. On Friday night, family members filed a missing persons report after the women failed to answer their cell phones, the Chula Vista Police Department said.
All four bodies were found at 1 p.m. Saturday inside the van, parked in a residential neighborhood known as Loma Dorada. They had been dead for about 20 hours. An anonymous call to the communications center led police to the van, said Fermín Gómez, an assistant attorney general who oversees homicide investigations.
A key piece of evidence came sometime later – it was unclear what day – when a separate tip led soldiers and federal police to a house in the same neighborhood. Inside, they found bloodstains and an identification card belonging to one of the victims, said Moreno, the attorney general. Moreno said at least one of the victims, Hernandez, had tested positive for cocaine. “The information that we have is that they were going to a party,” Moreno said.
Mexican authorities said they did not know if any of the victims had criminal records. One of the men, Garcia, was arrested on suspicion of alien smuggling in January 2008 after he was stopped while driving a vehicle with six illegal immigrants aboard, but he was not charged, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman in San Diego for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The two women were recent graduates of Chula Vista High School, Sweetwater Union High School District spokeswoman Lillian Leopold confirmed. Garcia attended Southwest High School in Nestor but did not graduate, she said.
Emily Allison, Ramos' English teacher at Chula Vista High, said, “All of her teachers adored her.” Allison described the girl she called “Carmelita” as “totally driven. She was communicative. She was beautiful. She was very bubbly, very chipper.” Allison taught Ramos as both a freshman and as a senior in a college prep English course. Ramos graduated in 2007.
Allison said she understood that Ramos and her friends liked to go to Tijuana on Thursdays for ladies' nights at clubs but characterized her as “sweet” and “classy.” “I have not spoken to her in at least a year, but I know that she was not involved in anything shady,” Allison said. |
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| JSmooth619 |
I feel sorry for the families, these kids were way too young.
I go down to TJ and about twice a month, and have NEVER had any problems, I just do what I got to do and leave.
People are scared to travel down there, but I think that if you keep cool, don't mess with people and don't cause any problems, you should be o.k. |
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| DaveT |
It seems like whether you keep cool or not, it doesn't matter. So that doesn't work. :-\
Watched a report on attacks in TJ on some news segment awhile back. Clearly remember it saying that even of those attacks that are meant to be directed towards specific people, 1/3rd of the attack victims are the wrong target by the attacker....would think they are someone else.
Why take the chance. See the attacks more and more. And it's easy to see you won't have problems if you keep cool, until it happens to someone you know. That said, I have the same issue with bad neighborhoods. I grew up in one and typically have no problem strolling through it solo...just believe I have to feel confident.....and this is after I know multiple peeps who have been mugged/robbed in the same areas over the years, hehe... |
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| TommyfromLA |
| You really have to be an idiot to go there "just to party" I mean if you have family you have to see that's one thing but to go party there in this stage you are an idiot. If they brought any DJ in the world and said its free I still wouldn't go there right now. Poor guys RIP |
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| JSmooth619 |
| quote: | Originally posted by TommyfromLA
You really have to be an idiot to go there "just to party" I mean if you have family you have to see that's one thing but to go party there in this stage you are an idiot. If they brought any DJ in the world and said its free I still wouldn't go there right now. Poor guys RIP |
good point, I dont go to TJ to party, that usually for kids under 21 that cant get into clubs here in S.D. What I have seen in TJ that is common is a 19yr old kid who had a WHOPPING 5 beers and now thinks he is the king of the world, talking crap, wanting to pick fights, pissing on peoples cars. You mess with the wrong people in TJ and you wont live through the night. |
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| Nerologic |
| quote: | Originally posted by JSmooth619
I feel sorry for the families, these kids were way too young.
I go down to TJ and about twice a month, and have NEVER had any problems, I just do what I got to do and leave.
People are scared to travel down there, but I think that if you keep cool, don't mess with people and don't cause any problems, you should be o.k. |
+1
I just got back from TJ last night.
Spent a full day down there, and mostly i was driving from place to place to place...I never have any issues, and if i do its with the stupid cops.
Everyone that i spoke to down there says they are hurting pretty bad. Since October of last year where everything started it was a HUGE decline of tourist visiting down there. That hit everyone drastically because tourism is a big part of TJ. On top of that, you are getting the influx of families and solo immigrants going back into Mexico because they cant find any jobs up here. So you have an already hurting economy + more people = more people willing to do shady . Theft is up, violence is up....yeah its getting crazy down there.
But that wont stop me from going... |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
do guys think TJ will ever change? Do you think (once this drug war thing calms down) that TJ will clean itself up?
I know it has always had a reputation of being this dirty little city that people go to and get all ed up, but just wondering if the city would ever try changing its reputation. |
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| Nerologic |
The drug war will calm down eventually, TJ will still go back to normal. Which in a sad reality, is still shady.
You cant really change a city that evolved much on illegal , from sneaking people to the US to sneaking drugs into the US. So those 2 things will always be embedded into Tijuana's past present and future. And if you get a mayor that wants to clean up the place, he usually gets murdered before he even steps into office lol.
So if it does clean back up to 80%, things will kind of go back to normal like in the 80's-mid 2000's. Tourism will start back up again, but the stigma from these times right now will still be lingering in the tourist minds when they walk around... |
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| bigperf |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nerologic
+1
I just got back from TJ last night.
Spent a full day down there, and mostly i was driving from place to place to place...
But that wont stop me from going... |
whats do great in TJ that keeps you coming back Nero?
ive only been there for one afternoon on the way back from rosarito a few spring breaks ago. Didnt see anything special
| quote: | Originally posted by JSmooth619
I go down to TJ and about twice a month, and have NEVER had any problems, I just do what I got to do and leave.
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What is there to do in TJ that can't be done in the US, since its obviously not underage drinking?(Adelitas?):crazy: |
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| DjWoody |
If you read the story, the teens don't sound too innocent. Even the police is presuming they had connections with criminals. One tested positive for Cocaine, and another had been arrested for smuggling people.
Don't get me wrong, it's unfortunate that this happened to this teens but it sounds like they were doing some shady business.
It sounds to me like they were mules. Look that word up. Lately lots of US teens who normally are US Citizens have been acting as mules to make a quick buck. A mule is another word for a smuggler. They usually go to TJ to "party," or at least that's what they tell their parents, and when they come back to the US they come back loaded with drugs. Lots of mules will swallow balloons filled with drugs, than them out. |
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| Nerologic |
| quote: | Originally posted by bigperf
whats do great in TJ that keeps you coming back Nero?
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Two main reasons are family, and my dentist. My orthodontist is down there, i didn't want to shell out 7-10g's up here so i went down there and saved around 5k. I sometimes have to taxi my moms down there. She has a cousin down there and she likes to visit her. And most the time while we are down there my mom likes to drop off clothes to the orphanages and some catholic churches.
On top of those 2 reason i have a buddy that lives down there in "Playa's de Tijuana" which is a upscale beach side com community of TJ. I visit him here and there, but most the time he rides his bike up here. My buddy also has his brothers that live in Rosarito, so most the times he goes i tag along and go with him down south.
I am not really afraid to be honest, i was raised going to TJ a few times a month. And during High School me and my friend practically lived at Safari in TJ until after we graduated and to like 01/02. So at the end of the day, i am not worried as much since i have gone so much and i know the do's and don't s... |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
| quote: | Originally posted by DjWoody
If you read the story, the teens don't sound too innocent. Even the police is presuming they had connections with criminals. One tested positive for Cocaine, and another had been arrested for smuggling people.
Don't get me wrong, it's unfortunate that this happened to this teens but it sounds like they were doing some shady business.
It sounds to me like they were mules. Look that word up. Lately lots of US teens who normally are US Citizens have been acting as mules to make a quick buck. A mule is another word for a smuggler. They usually go to TJ to "party," or at least that's what they tell their parents, and when they come back to the US they come back loaded with drugs. Lots of mules will swallow balloons filled with drugs, than them out. |
yeah... i don't think they were too innocent either. but how involved were they? did they get caught up in stuff that got out of control (obviously they did)? i'd like to hear how this story unfolds. |
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