Bodies of Missing/Kidnapped Dallas Couple Found
cro...@earthlink.net
cooperate...doesn't make things look too good for them
Couple's families await ID
2 bodies found near I-45; suspect named in possible kidnapping
09:38 AM CST on Saturday, February 3, 2007
By HOLLY YAN and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
hy...@dallasnews.com and teis...@dallasnews.com
For some, there was a flood of grief. Others desperately clung to hope
despite the growing likelihood of tragedy.
After 27 days of waiting and worrying, relatives of Luis Campos and Linoshka
Torres received a dreaded call from police Friday morning – the
investigation into the couple's disappearance had led to the discovery of
two bodies in southeast Dallas County.
Later in the day, police identified an at-large suspect who they say
kidnapped the young boyfriend and his pregnant girlfriend in central Oak
Cliff on Jan. 6. They had another suspect in custody on unrelated charges.
Police found the bodies about 11 a.m. under a bridge off Dowdy Ferry Road
near Interstate 45. They were unclothed. No details were released on the
cause of death.
Sgt. Gary Kirkpatrick, head of the department's special investigations unit,
said police were waiting for the medical examiner's office to positively
identify the bodies. But he said the couple had probably been dead since the
day they went missing.
Investigators believe they might not have been the intended victims.
"With the limited amount of information we had, it could still be a case of
mistaken identity," Sgt. Kirkpatrick said.
But, he added, "We have not reached a final conclusion."
News of the bodies brought a range of reactions from the families of the
missing couple, who disappeared in broad daylight while sitting in their
vehicle in a central Oak Cliff driveway. Ms. Torres' mother, Francia De La
Rosa, wept and resigned herself to the worst possible fate as the family
gathered at her Wilmer home.
"They said they look like them," said Ms. De La Rosa, whose trembling hands
struggled to hold a cup of tea. "I thought I was going crazy."
A steady stream of relatives and friends flowed through the family's modest
house to offer support. Among the calmest was Rachell Torres, Ms. Torres'
sister, who refused to let news of the bodies sway her hope.
"I'm not going to think about that until I know," she said.
Police identified 30-year-old Nicolas Monarrez as a suspect in the couple's
disappearance. Mr. Monarrez is described as Latino, about 5 feet 7 inches
tall and 250 pounds. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked
to call 214-671-3661.
The identity of the second suspect, who is in custody, had not been
released.
If the bodies found Friday are those of Mr. Campos and Ms. Torres, both
suspects will face capital murder charges, police said.
The case of Ms. Torres, 18, and Mr. Campos, 20, has baffled police and
families for weeks. The pair, expecting their first child in April, have no
criminal background and had nothing that would make them obvious targets of
crime. They called their families every day.
"We let each other know where we are," Ms. De La Rosa said. "We are not a
spread-out family."
At about 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, the couple arrived at the house of Francisco
Iniguez, a mechanic who had been working on Mr. Campos' Ford Mustang. The
couple had waited in the driveway of the home in the 3300 block of Edgefield
Avenue for Mr. Iniguez to come home.
The mechanic's son, Francisco Iniguez Jr., told police he peered out the
window and saw the couple sitting in their red Ford Explorer. Moments later,
he said, he saw what looked like a light-colored Chevrolet Lumina with
tinted windows parked behind the Explorer. It then drove away.
It's unclear whether the couple got in the Lumina, but the couple left their
cellphones in their vehicle and the keys in the ignition. That was the last
time anyone reported seeing them.
The mechanic and his son have not responded to requests for comment.
"We would like to talk to the mechanic again," said Dallas police Deputy
Chief Jesse Reyes, head of the crimes against persons division. "Obviously,
he's not the person that's in custody. We'd like to talk to the mechanic's
son again, especially now that we've recovered the bodies that could
potentially be the missing couple."
Ms. Torres and Mr. Campos met at a mutual friend's party last year and
quickly became inseparable. Ms. Torres was an honor roll student at
Wilmer-Hutchins and South Oak Cliff high schools, and Mr. Torres was a
warehouse stocker and talented soccer player.
Several months later, the couple told their families they were expecting a
baby. Though the pregnancy seemed to be a surprise, relatives said Mr.
Campos and Ms. Torres are committed to starting a new life together. They
recently signed a lease for an apartment near Duncanville and are thinking
about getting married this month, said Pass Campos, Mr. Campos'
sister-in-law.
The couple have a passion for volunteer work.
"She was working at the Salvation Army, volunteering during Christmas for
the Angel Tree program," said Ms. Torres' friend, Denisse Gaytan. Mr. Campos
also volunteered around Christmas, helping sort donated toys to give to
children.
Ms. Torres has been a popular fixture at the Salvation Army, also
volunteering during summer camp. Recently, children at the Oak Cliff
facility have been asking what happened to Ms. Torres after seeing the
couple's picture in the newspaper.
Since the disappearance, relatives have saturated neighborhoods with fliers
and held on to hope.
Ms. De La Rosa kept buying toys and baby clothes for her future
granddaughter.
"I have been buying little things whenever I see something at the store,"
she said.
In southwest Dallas, the brother and sister-in-law of Luis Campos sat
silently on the couch Friday, drained of emotion after hearing about the
discovery of two bodies.
"It's better than nothing, just to find out something," Ms. Campos said.
Like the police, Ms. Campos has racked her brain trying to figure out what
happened to the couple and believes the case could be one of mistaken
identity.
"We've thought that before, that they confused them with someone else," Ms.
Campos said. "But I don't know why they wouldn't let them go right away."
She and Mr. Campos' brother, Valentin, have waited four weeks thinking that
Mr. Campos could still call them or walk through the door.
"We still think that," Ms. Campos said.
Schepps Dairy has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the
arrest and indictment of whoever may have harmed Ms. Torres and Mr. Campos.
"I still think these are innocent victims," Dallas police Assistant Chief
Ron Waldrop said. "I think there's a scenario where these people are just
salt of the earth and got caught up in something by mistake."
tiny dancer
<cro...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Al2xh.20237$w91....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> interesting that the mechanic and his son now refused to
> cooperate...doesn't make things look too good for them
> Couple's families await ID
What a rotten shame. These two kids sound like really nice young people.
It sounds like a case of mistaken identity, 'eh? I'm guessing the mechanic
& family have some connection to drugs, and these poor kids were simply in
the wrong place at the wrong time.
td
>
> 2 bodies found near I-45; suspect named in possible kidnapping
>
>
> 09:38 AM CST on Saturday, February 3, 2007
>
> By HOLLY YAN and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
> hy...@dallasnews.com and teis...@dallasnews.com
>
> For some, there was a flood of grief. Others desperately clung to hope
> despite the growing likelihood of tragedy.
>
> After 27 days of waiting and worrying, relatives of Luis Campos and
Linoshka
> Torres received a dreaded call from police Friday morning - the
cro...@earthlink.net
"tiny dancer" <tinyda...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Fu8xh.30791$uW.2...@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
JonesieCat
"tiny dancer" <tinyda...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Fu8xh.30791$uW.2...@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
>
> news:Al2xh.20237$w91....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> interesting that the mechanic and his son now refused to
>> cooperate...doesn't make things look too good for them
>> Couple's families await ID
>
>
>
> What a rotten shame. These two kids sound like really nice young people.
> It sounds like a case of mistaken identity, 'eh? I'm guessing the
> mechanic
> & family have some connection to drugs, and these poor kids were simply in
> the wrong place at the wrong time.
>
>
> td
Drugs. That must be what the mistaken ID thing was about. But I'm not sure
the mechanic and his family are refusing to cooperate with LE - their 'no
comment' was directed at the media, wasn't it? The LE spokesman says they
want to speak to the mechanic et al. again, but didn't say they are
refusing. Maybe that's implied? at IAC, it's suspicious that it happened at
mech's place. I wonder if they have other drug deals or illegal stuff
happening? Hot cars? Even if innocent themselves of murder, they may be
afraid of other charges. And also, afraid of the killers? hmmm.
jc
jc