Influencer Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay and her husband and children, who were found dead inside truck, were wrapped in plastic
A TikTok influencer, her husband, and their two young children who were found dead in their pick-up truck were wrapped in plastic, police have said.
32-year-old Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay and her husband Roberto Carlos Gil Licea, aged 36, died alongside their son Gael Santiago, aged 13, and daughter, Regina, seven, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Local police discovered the family dead on Friday August 22 inside their abandoned pick-up truck, but only confirmed their identities last Friday (August 29). The family had only relocated to the Guadalajara metropolitan area for work just months earlier.
Roberto had been working in vehicle trading and tomato cultivation in Michoacán state. Officials suspect the murders may be connected to his business dealings. Detectives traced some of the pickup's journey using CCTV footage, which led them to a local mechanic's garage.
Prosecutor Alfonso Gutiérrez Santillán stated: "The scene was processed, and investigators found multiple pieces of evidence suggesting the family was killed there. While the forensic results are not yet in, ballistic and blood evidence almost certainly confirm they were murdered at that location."
Two men who were present at the garage were brought in for questioning but were subsequently freed owing to insufficient evidence. After departing the prosecutor's office, they met up with two other people who had been waiting for them, as reported by NeedToKnow.
Moments afterwards, gunmen ambushed the group and forcibly abducted three of them, whilst one managed to flee. The three missing men remain unaccounted for, and authorities are seeking the fourth to obtain his statement.
Prosecutor Blanca Trujillo said: "Investigations show the perpetrators had been watching the exit for over two hours. It wasn't an immediate attack – they waited until the group had moved a few metres before carrying out the abduction."
Esmeralda, known online as Esmeralda FG, had tens of thousands of followers on social media and was known for sharing lifestyle and travel content, but also but also posted controversial videos of herself lip-syncing to 'narcocorrido' drug ballads. She had more than 46,000 followers on her TikTok profile. Investigators, however, said they did not believe the mum-of-two’s online presence was the motive for the family’s killing.