Thread: U.S. citizens among four youth found dead in Tijuana UPDATED

MEXICO UNDER SIEGE

4 Southern California residents slain in Tijuana

The bodies of two men and two women, bearing 'signs of violence,' were found over the weekend in a car. The circumstances are being investigated.
Times Staff Reports
May 15, 2009

Mexico City -- Four U.S. citizens, all from Southern California, were found dead in Tijuana, their bodies showing "signs of violence," Mexican and U.S. authorities said Thursday.

The two men and two women were found inside a car Saturday but their identities were not confirmed until Thursday. Their bodies were covered with blankets and had several wounds, the state prosecutor's office for Baja California said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana confirmed the identities of the dead as Luis Games Chavez, 21; Oscar J. Garcia III, 23; Brianna Hernandez Aguilera, 19; and Carmen Ramos Chavez, 20. All were U.S. citizens and Southern California residents, the consulate spokesman said. He declined to give specific hometowns or say how long the four had been in Tijuana. Mexican authorities listed Ramos Chavez as a Mexican citizen.

The circumstances of the deaths were under investigation. No suspects were in custody, officials said.

Tijuana, once one of Mexico's most violent border cities, had experienced relative calm for much of this year, after top drug-trafficking figures were arrested in a military-led offensive. However, two weeks ago, seven police officers were killed in a single day in a series of brazen attacks that threatened to reignite the drug war.

Although a number of U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico, they make up a small fraction of the thousands who die in drug-related violence in the country.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 9816.story

Investigators gather clues in 4 slayings

By Sandra Dibble Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. May 15, 2009

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,â€

[quote]“I have not spoken to her in at least a year, but I know that she was not involved in anything shady,â€

Originally Posted by bigtex

This is truly tragic and my heart certainly goes out to their families however, how many more US citizens have to die before we get the message, DON"T GO TO MEXICO!

Ummmm, these kids were involved with the Mexican drug cartel. Them being US citizens have nothing to do with it. They knew what they were getting into. They were attending a party of a friend who was recently released from jail on drug charges. There are no innocent deaths in Tijuana. If you have owe nothing, you have nothing to worry about. Dont be so naive.