Thread: Body in trunk was illegal immigrant

Body in trunk was illegal immigrant

By T.J. Aulds
The Daily News
Published December 28, 2008

TEXAS CITY — The man found stuffed in the trunk of a car that had been abandoned in the driveway of a Texas City home on Christmas Night was identified as an illegal immigrant from Honduras, police said Saturday.

Abisai Hernandez-Garcia, 31, was stabbed and beaten before being stuffed into the trunk of his green 1997 Mitsubishi Galant. The vehicle was abandoned in the driveway of a family’s home in the 100 block of 28th Street about 10 p.m. Thursday.

After calling police about the abandoned car, the homeowners said dispatchers suggested they call a towing company to have it removed, since the vehicle was on private property.

As they waited for the wrecker to arrive, the couple searched for records to identify the owner.

They opened the trunk to discover the man’s body inside.

The medical examiner would not be able to confirm until Monday Hernandez-Garcia’s cause of death. Police said he had been dead less than 24 hours when his body was discovered.

Texas City Police Capt. Brian Goetschius said Hernandez-Garcia had been deported at least once, possibly twice. He had also been arrested twice this year by Texas City police for driving without a license and in November was arrested on a charge of public intoxication.

Outside of those instances, police have very little information about the victim, Goetschius said. They were working with federal immigration officials to find out more about his background.

The police department also was going to contact the Honduran consulate to notify the victim’s family.

Hernandez-Garcia’s body was dumped just a few blocks from the Velami Apartment complex where he lived, Goetschius said. While the transfer of the title had never been completed, police obtained records that show the victim had purchased the Galant about a month before he was found dead.

Goetschius said the car had been reported abandoned at another location in Texas City on Dec. 21. The orange tow warning sticker was still on the car’s windshield.

Police did confirm Hernandez-Garcia had no connection to the owners of the home where his car was dumped.

“We’re bewildered why the vehicle was left there,â€

Mystery surrounds life, death of illegal immigrant

By T.J. Aulds
The Daily News
Published January 11, 2009

TEXAS CITY — From what people tell police, Abisai Hernandez-Garcia was well liked by almost everyone he met. He was also somewhat of a ladies man.

Obviously, someone didn’t like the 31-year-old Honduran. He was beaten and stabbed to death. His body was dumped into the trunk of his car.

The car was abandoned in the driveway of a Texas City house on Christmas Night. The homeowners discovered Hernandez-Garcia’s body as they searched the car looking for paperwork to identify the owner.

In trying to find Garcia’s killer or killers, investigators have been frustrated by the world the illegal immigrant lived in.

He had no driver’s license, no rental agreement or lease in his name and his mobile phone account was under someone else’s name, police said. The Mitsubishi Galant he purchased in November was not in his name.

Police confirmed through federal immigration officials that Hernandez-Garcia had been deported from the United States twice, in 2003 and again in 2005. There are indications in the records obtained by the Texas City police that Hernandez-Garcia had also been deported before 2003.

Outside of those deportations, he did not have an extensive criminal record.

‘Minor’ Run-ins

He was arrested three times in 2008 by Texas City police for minor infractions. Twice his arrests came after he was caught driving without a driver’s license.

His was arrested a third time in November for public intoxication.

“Outside of those incidents, we find no other record of any other run-ins with the law,â€