Both members of a marriage resident in California and disappeared for a week in Tijuana were allegedly found lifeless and buried in one of their properties in this Mexican border city, according to the authorities of this country.
Hirán Sánchez, a prosecutor for the state of Baja California, said the bodies were discovered with the help of trained dogs to search for bodies.
The Prosecutor's Office expects family members to recognize the remains to officially confirm that they are the bodies of the two disappeared, but considers with a security of “90%” that it is.
María Teresa López, 65, and her husband, Jesús Rubén López, 70, were naturalized U.S. citizens, authorities said.
The couple, who lived in Garden Grove, California, had crossed the Tijuana border on January 10 to collect about $ 6,400 (120,000 pesos) for the rents of the apartments they owned in the city, Sánchez said.
The daughter of the two, who is called Norma and lived with them, reported the next day the disappearance of both.
The authorities have arrested her husband, identified only as Santiago, as a suspect in murdering them . The alleged motive of the crime is a monetary dispute between the two elders and their son-in-law about the payments of these rents, according to the Prosecutor's Office.
Santiago was installed in Tijuana and had a criminal record for kidnapping people, authorities added. In 2012 he was deported from the United States.
When interviewed by investigators, the 36-year-old man said he went to the border to look for in-laws and returned them there hours later. However, there were inconsistencies in his statement, Sánchez said.
Investigators from the prosecutor's office found the two bodies allegedly belonging to the deceased marriage this Friday morning in an area with land behind one of their homes, thanks to the clues offered by witness statements and images obtained by security cameras, according to the San Diego Union Tribune . The bodies showed signs of violence , the prosecutor said.
The authorities work to permanently close the case and eventually find other responsible parties.
With information from The Associated Press.
See also: Two children of former narco chief kidnapped in Tijuana
