Bodies of homicide victims found in San Luis Rio Colorado

SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. – Three bodies of homicide victims have been discovered in the desert on this border city’s southeast corner in separate cases in less than a week.

The most recent discovery occurred Thursday, when the body of an unidentified man was found dumped near Avenida Haiti (Haiti Avenue) and Calle 21 (21st Street), according to municipal police.

Las Noticias, a newspaper serving San Luis Rio Colorado, reported police found a warning written on a piece of cardboard left next to the body. The message said the same fate awaited “thieves” in the Chula Vista residential subdivision, a neighborhood on the city’s east side where crime has jumped in recent months.

The victim was wearing a red shirt with black sleeves, black pants and gray socks, police said, and his hands had been bound behind his back. The cause of death was not immediately released.

Agents with the Sonora attorney general’s office have taken over the investigation of the slaying.

The body was found two days after the discovery of a nude body of a male left burning on top of a pile of tires, police said.

That body was found in a desert area near (39th Street), and agents with the attorney general’s office have taken over the investigation of the homicide.

In another case, one man was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident reported Oct. 26 on the city’s south side. Responding to calls about the shooting, police found the victims near a canal at Avenidas Violetas and Calle 48.

The slain man, whose hands had been bound with tape, was identified as Gustavo N., 25. Police do not release the surnames of crime victims or of criminal suspects pending prosecution.

The wounded man was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known.

The border city next to San Luis, Ariz., has seen homicides reach record numbers this year in a wave of violence authorities attribute largely to drug trafficking and street gang activity.