Overview

• An abandoned gray Ford Ranger discovered on Aug. 22 in Guadalajara contained the bodies of Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, 32, her husband, and their two children, all wrapped in plastic.
• CCTV and security data led investigators to an auto repair shop on Ejido Avenue, where bloodstains, spent casings, and ballistic evidence suggest the killings occurred.
• Workers from the shop were detained and later released for lack of evidence, then armed men abducted some of them and relatives outside the prosecutor’s office, with one person escaping.
• Forensic results are pending, no arrests have been announced, and authorities are prioritizing the husband’s vehicle trade and tomato-farming ties as the likely motive direction.
• Officials and multiple outlets characterize the slayings as cartel-style, though prosecutors say there is no evidence the victims were cartel members.