The dark history of Matamoros: Mark Kilroy was kidnapped in 1989 in the city where 4 Americans were kidnapped
Warning: This article contains a remembrance of crime and may trigger some, readers discretion is advised
MATAMOROS, MEXICO: The horrific kidnapping of four South Carolina tourists in Matamoros may have forced many Americans to recall a similar type of incident that happened in the same cartel-controlled Mexican town a while ago. more than three decades old. In 1989, Mark Kilroy was just 21 when he disappeared while on spring break.
The search for Kilroy continued for nearly a month before his remains were discovered in a mass grave with other victims. The poor fellow was allegedly kidnapped, tortured, and killed by a satanic drug-trafficking cult.
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The tragic fate of Mark Kilroy
Kilroy, 21, was a college student in Texas who traveled to Mexico on March 14, 1989, with a group of friends. According to The Washington Post, Kilroy was in Matamoros, a town across from Brownsville, Texas, where he intended to hit the bars. He disappeared the same night to be found dead on April 11, twenty miles away on a ranch alongside 14 other people.
Three weeks after the 21-year-old suddenly disappeared, Mexican police arrested a man for marijuana violations, which led to a search for new drugs on his family’s ranch. But according to the Los Angeles Times, authorities were terrified to discover what they described as a “human slaughterhouse”.
Jose Guadalupe was detained in the rescue operation appears at a press conference to give details after two US citizens were found dead in Matamoros, Tamaulipas at the Auditorium of the Secretaria de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana on March 7, 2023, in Mexico City, Mexico (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Kilroy’s spine was removed and both of his legs were severed. The brains, blood and hearts of the victims were found in an iron cauldron. Local news reports said the cult “believed that human sacrifice provided supernatural protection for its drug trafficking operation.” According to The Post, the cult has been identified as Los Narcosatánicos who committed their horrific deeds on the family ranch, which also served as a base to smuggle approximately 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of marijuana into the United States each month.
Cuban-American Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo was named as the main perpetrator of the incident. Members of the cult called him “El Padrino” or the godfather.
In June 1989, Gary Cartwright wrote for the Texas Monthly that he “introduced various forms of mind control under the guise of religious gibberish. Like Charles Manson used the Beatles song ‘Helter Skelter’, the Cuban used a film called ‘The Believers’, in which a father and son are caught up in a web of black magic”. Investigators believe Constanzo tortured Kilroy and then killed him with a machete.
An international manhunt has been conducted to find him and others associated with the murders of at least 15 people found at the ranch. The Associated Press reported at the time that the cult leader and his accomplices fled to Mexico City, where Constanzo allegedly ordered his own shooting alongside his top follower in May 1989. Law enforcement officials reported launched a raid on an apartment where they came across the two bodies riddled with gunshot wounds. At least five members of the sect have been sentenced to long terms.
Kilroy’s parents have vowed to fight drugs
Kilroy’s parents, James and Helen Kilroy, set up a nonprofit fighting drug addiction. The 21-year-old was an honor student who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Months after Mark’s death, his father James told Rolling Stone, “We’re definitely putting our energy into the fight against drugs.” “For this reason, we are not looking back. We are trying to look to the future,” he added.
Sin racism, sin discriminate, sin specular, sin complejos…
Pero, hay algo que no me cuadra de los 4 Norteamericanos que vinieron a “une cirugía estética a Matamoros” …
Repito… a Matamoros pic.twitter.com/unZ8PMbtCy
— News 🇲🇽 from Luis Med, Fuera Derechangos 🚫 (@emedranos) March 9, 2023
The recent kidnappings of four Americans in Matamoros
The four US citizens – Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams entered Mexico last week for one of them to undergo cosmetic surgery. However, they were ambushed and shot dead by gunmen suspected of being members of a local drug cartel. They were then forced into a van and hid from Mexican and American authorities for four days.
Just the usual dragging of bodies after a cartel shootout in broad daylight today in Matamoros.#Mexico City #Narcostate #FailedState pic.twitter.com/bfWwNgjBcB
— David Wolf (@DavidWolf777) March 4, 2023
On March 7, they were found in a “hiding place” where McGee and Williams were rescued after seeing Woodard and Brown die. The cartel which is held responsible for the brutal act issued a letter of apology and handed over five of its members to local authorities, according to images circulating online. “THE [Gulf Cartel] apologizes to Matamoros society, Ms. Areli’s loved ones, and the American individuals and families involved,” read the handwritten letter, according to CNN, referring to a Mexican woman also killed in the shooting.
Last night 5 men in handcuffs were abandoned on the streets of Matamoros with a message in which the Gulf Cartel accuses them of having participated in the kidnapping of Americans and apologizes for the deaths of three people, including a Mexican by source pic.twitter.com/37doSnJ2cP
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) March 9, 2023
The bodies of the two Americans killed in the kidnapping were handed over to US diplomatic authorities on Thursday. Five men can be seen lying face down in one of the photos posted online with their shirts pulled over their faces. “The Gulf Cartel, Scorpion Group, strongly condemns the events of last Friday,” the letter continues, referring to a division of the cartel. “For this reason, we have decided to hand over those directly involved and responsible for the acts, who acted at all times under their own determination and indiscipline and against the rules in which the [Gulf Cartel] still works.
Two of the four Americans who survived the violent attack and kidnapping by suspected members of the #GulfCartel’s Scorpion group in #Matamoros, #Mexico City have been flown back to Brownsville, TX. #tamaulipas #cartels #kidnapping
pic.twitter.com/FYnojiVGFX
— The Aftermath™️ (@aftermathvids) March 7, 2023
Matamoros, a very volatile place
Of Mexico’s 32 states, the United States has Level 4 (“do not travel”) advisories on six, including Tamaulipas where Matamoros is located, due to crime and kidnapping risks. Matamoros is also described as “a city where murders and disappearances are so frequent that they rarely make the headlines”.
The US State Department has raised its warning level for Matamoros following last week’s kidnappings to its highest level, telling Americans not to travel there.
Other reports indicate that Grupo Escorpion of the Gulf Cartel was responsible for the deaths of two Americans in Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Video of them interrogating drug dealers who were later executed. It is a very dangerous group. pic.twitter.com/PMpRjZZFa1
— Dee Dee Weeks (@DeeDeeWeeks) March 7, 2023
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