Woman found slain in Juárez
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/11/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT



The decomposing body of a young woman was found buried under rocks in west Juárez in a case reminiscent of the women's murders that plagued the city in years past.

A task force on the women's slayings took over the investigation after the body of the unidentified woman was found Monday evening at the edge of colonia Felipe Angeles not far from Cristo Negro mountain, state police said. The woman was between 20 and 24 years old, was thin and had brown hair. She was wearing a turquoise-colored blouse and had a silver flower-shaped barrette with blue stones on her hair.

The case comes as Juárez is dealing with about 450 homicides so far this year believed to be linked to a war among drug traffickers.

On Tuesday, state investigators identified a girl shot and killed Monday evening as 12-year-old Alexa Belem Moreno Melendez. She was shot in the head while riding in the back seat of a black Chevrolet Tahoe with Chihuahua plates that was strafed with gunfire. No one else in the vehicle was killed.

The girl's death was possibly referred to on a banner found hanging from a bridge Tuesday morning threatening revenge on hit men it called "mata inocentes" (killers of innocents).

At 10 p.m. Monday, two men were gunned down near a pool table in the Mavis bar, raising to eight the number of homicides that day.

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Tuesday evening, only one death had been reported, that of a man wrapped in bandages dumped in an alley, news reports said. Also Tuesday, the Juárez police academy graduated 92 new officers as part of efforts to bolster the police force.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.







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