Search continues for San Marcos men missing in Mexico

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Anyone who willingly goes to Mexico is just asking to be killed, no matter if you’re from the US or south of Mexico. What I find amazing is that if you watch the game shows on TV they’re still giving out trips to Mexico as prizes, and the contestants gleam with delight when they win them. I blame the media for trying to hide the fact they are lying. It’s hard to take responsibility for the results of their actions.


FBI: Search continues for San Marcos men missing in Mexico
By Patrick George | Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 10:13 AM
FBI officials are continuing to search for four men from San Marcos and one teenager from Chicago who disappeared in Mexico in November.
FBI spokesman Agent Erik Vasys said investigators are treating the disappearance of Luis Hernandez, Carlos Ortega, Nicolas Munoz, Ricardo Gomez and 14-year-old Giovanni Gomez as a missing persons case.
Vasys said four of the men work for a concrete manufacturer in San Marcos, and the 14-year-old is one of their relatives who was visiting from Chicago. Vasys said that they traveled to Laredo on Nov. 27 to pick up a vehicle related to their business, then decided to cross the border into Mexico to do some shopping. They were supposed to come home that evening but did not return, and FBI officials have been investigating since Nov. 30.
“There has been no indication of an act of violence, but it’s not a far leap of the imagination to think that something of a violent nature could have taken place,” Vasys said.
One of the missing men is a U.S. citizen, one is a resident alien, and the immigration status of the other three are unknown, Vasys said.
Vasys said the FBI would direct anyone thinking of traveling to Mexico to be aware of the risks by checking with the Texas Department of Public Safety or the U.S. State Department.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the FBI at (210) 225-6741.
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...for_san_m.html

Mexico investigates report of 50 missing migrants
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are investigating the possible kidnapping of 50 illegal migrants in the southern state of Oaxaca, a day after saying there was no evidence of the crime.
Honduran, Guatemalan and Salvadoran migrants were being interviewed by officials at the federal Attorney General's Office about an assault last Thursday, the National Migration Institute said in a statement.
The migrants — 30 men, 15 women and five children — were held up by gunmen while trying to cross the country by train and are now missing, said the Foreign Ministry of El Salvador, which first reported the crime.
Migration Commissioner Salvador Beltran del Rio said he has been in contact with the foreign ministers of Honduras and El Salvador about the alleged abduction on the Oaxacan isthmus, which many migrants from Central America cross on their way to the United States.
The Salvadoran Foreign Ministry asked the Mexican government Tuesday to investigate the disappearance after witnesses said the victims were held up, beaten with machetes and had their belongings stolen. Witnesses said they had just escaped an operation by Mexican soldiers and federal police that resulted in the arrest of 92 illegal migrants from the same train.
Mexico is the transit route for thousands of illegal migrants seeking to reach the United States, with many falling victim to gangs and organized crime. The government's National Human Rights Commission reported in 2009 that nearly 10,000 migrants are kidnapped a year by gangs. The commission said Wednesday that it also has opened an investigation into last week's reported abduction, and called on local, state and federal governments to prevent such kidnappings and guarantee the safety and rights of migrants, regardless of their legal status.
In the most brazen case to date, 72 slain migrants were found in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas in August, a massacre blamed on members of the Zetas drug gang, which controls transport routes in that area for drugs and other contraband.
___
December 22, 2010 03:25 PM EST

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Kidnappers of 50 Mexican migrants make ransom call
MEXICO CITY – The supposed kidnappers of 50 Central American migrants who disappeared in southern Mexico last week called a family in the United States demanding a ransom, a Roman Catholic priest who first reported the abductions said Thursday.
But they contacted relatives of a migrant who had escaped after the Dec. 16 assault, said the Rev. Alejandro Solalinde, who runs a migrant shelter in the southern state of Oaxaca.
The abductors probably thought he was still in the group, Solalinde told The Associated Press in a telephone interview, adding that he reported the call to Central American and Mexican authorities.
"We're calling the governments of Central America in case they know of any other calls for ransom," he said.
It was another apparent confirmation of the massive abduction, which Mexican authorities initially denied when they were contacted by the foreign ministry of El Salvador on Tuesday with the complaint.
Witnesses said the majority of those kidnapped are Salvadorans, and Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez continued his criticism of Mexico for initially ignoring the abduction, calling the government's response "hasty and unfortunate."
"We believe you can't deal with these problems by ignoring them," he told a news conference Wednesday night. "Rather, they should be recognized and thoroughly investigated."
Besides El Salvador, the 30 men, 15 women and five children are from Honduras and Guatemala, according to witnesses, who are being interviewed by the Mexican Attorney General's Office. The kidnapping allegedly happened near Chahuites, Oaxaca, after gunmen held up a train in which the migrants were traveling.
The alleged crime comes just months after the horrific massacre of 72 mostly Central American migrants in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas in August, a tragedy that caused Mexico to replace its top immigration official in September.
That massacre has been blamed on the Zetas drug gang. Solalinde said he has information that the supposed kidnappers of the 50 also have ties to the Zetas. Mexican authorities would not comment on a possible connection.
It was not clear how the criminals would have gotten information about the family of an escaped migrant, but Solalinde said he knows of cases in which abductors travel for a while with migrants before kidnapping them to gain their confidence.
Mexico is the transit route for thousands of illegal migrants seeking to reach the United States, with many falling victim to gangs and organized crime.
Witnesses reported that those kidnapped were beaten with machetes and their belongings were taken.
The victims minutes earlier had escaped a raid on the same train by Mexican police and military, in which they arrested 92 alleged illegal migrants.
The National Human Rights Commission reported in 2009 that nearly 10,000 migrants are kidnapped a year by gangs. The commission also has opened an investigation into last week's reported abduction.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12...#ixzz18zMo41Ad