Posted on 06/13/2004 12:54:16 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Two off-duty border agents based in Texas were found dead Friday near Tucson in what authorities were investigating as a murder-suicide. The male and female agents, who both worked for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, were found around 2:30 a.m. by a Tohono O'odham Nation police officer who was responding to a report of an abandoned vehicle 10 miles southwest of Tucson, the tribe said. Doug Mosier, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in El Paso, said the agents were identified as Arturo Betancourt, 45, and Elizabeth Granillo, 31.
Betancourt had worked for the Border Patrol for 15 years and Granillo for 2 1/2 years, Mosier said. It was not immediately clear what the two agents were doing in Arizona, according to Mosier. "The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide," said Mosier, who declined to release details on how the agents died. Tohono O'odham Police Chief Richard Saunders said the crime scene had been cleared by late Friday but declined further comment pending the completion of the investigation.
The FBI helped the tribe gather evidence at the scene but otherwise was not involved in the investigation, said FBI spokeswoman Susan Herskovits. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families, colleagues and friends of the agents," Mosier said. "There are no words to describe the profound sense of loss." Support services have been established to help employees of the El Paso sector deal with the loss, according to Mosier.
Maybe they didn't refill the watering stations quickly enough for the illegals crossing the desert.(sarcasm)
It would be nasty to find two dead bodies in a shut up car this time of year in Arizona. I feel sorry for the police who found them.
Some suspect cartel involvement, but with the FBI dropping the case to the Reservation Police we may never know.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1152179/posts
Ft. Marcy Park Police were unavailable?
"Holy Vince Foster, Batman!"
After the Phoenix suicide, it stinks. Too many so called suicides, and unless that was a love affair gone bad, then this has deep roots and needs to be solved.
No indication that they were covered with carpet fibers or somehow levitated to the area where they were found (Foster had no mud on his shoes that rainy day).
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