5th body found on Tijuana property owned by missing Garden Grove couple believed dead

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
5th body found on TJ property owned by missing OC couple
A fifth body was discovered by Mexican officials on a property in Tijuana owned by the missing Garden Grove couple who were also found there.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- A fifth body has been discovered by Mexican officials on a property in Tijuana owned by the Garden Grove couple that was also found there.

The body was found Monday, according to Mexican police.

Jesus Guillen, 70, and Maria Lopez, 65, went missing after going to Tijuana on Jan. 10 to collect some $6,400 in rent from apartments they owned in the city, according to Baja California state prosecutor Hirán Sánchez.

Though they have yet to be identified by family members, Lopez and Guillen are believed to be dead following Friday's announcement that the bodies were found buried underneath the floor of the house. The bodies showed signs of violence, Sanchez said.

On Saturday, investigators said the bodies of another man and woman were also uncovered and are in the process of trying to identify them.

The couple's son-in-law, identified as Santiago, is being held in connection with their death. Authorities said the preliminary investigation suggested the motive was a monetary dispute over rent payments.

Sánchez said the son-in-law had already been charged with disappearance of people and would now be charged with murder. He said the man had a criminal record in the U.S. and was deported in 2012.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.