Thread: TX-Coyote notified relative of Salvadoran woman's death

TX-Coyote notified relative of Salvadoran woman's death

August 1, 2008 - 10:25PM
By Jeremy Roebuck, The Monitor
MISSION - A woman found dead and wrapped in a bed sheet north of the city earlier this week likely died from natural causes, authorities said Friday.

But relatives from as far away as Virginia knew about her death before anyone reported finding her body.

Early autopsy results indicate Maria Alicia Lopez Moto, of El Salvador, had a heart attack Thursday while walking on foot through a rural area near the intersection of Mile 9 1/2 Road North and La Homa Road. She also sustained a slight injury to her right eye.

Investigators believe Lopez, who is believed to be in her late 20s, was traveling under the guidance of at least one coyote, or immigrant smuggler, who covered her body and fled.

But as deputies probed the death Thursday as a potential homicide, they were met at the scene by her brother, who said he had traveled nearly 2,000 miles to find her.

Rosendo Lopez Moto, of Alexandria, Va., told investigators he had received a call from an unknown man who said his sister had died and he should take a 6 p.m. flight from Virginia to McAllen, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

Once he arrived at McAllen-Miller International Airport, the man called back and told him to take a taxi to the intersection where Maria Lopez's body was later found.

"He's still not sure how they knew to call him," Treviño said.

Deputies continue to investigate the case and hope to pursue misdemeanor charges against whomever left her for improperly disposing of a body.


http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/l ... north.html

EVEN THOUGH THIS IS SAD; IS EVERYONE LEGALLY, HERE ?