GUILTY FL - Bodies of couple, 2 sons found along turnpike, Port St Lucie, 13 Oct 2006

[cheko1]

execution style murders such as this one screams drugs or mafia!!!!!

Could very well be mafia...

 

[Trino]

I think we can assume this crime was premeditated.

Makes you wonder how the murderer got away and if there was a second vehicle involved. Of course, the murderer also could have parked his own getaway transportation in the same area where the Jeep was found, giving him a way out of town.

I have to think that this execution involved only one person. Surely there can't be that many callous individuals together that would kill small children.

 

[reb]

<I have to think that this execution involved only one person. Surely there can't be that many callous individuals together that would kill small children.>

are you kidding????? there are more people out there who would kill small children than you know,, and they can and they do. people will do anything for drugs and money.

btw i have also been thinking along the lines of there being a second person. surely if this guy had to be silenced, and his family eliminated also,, the perp would want to have back up. also, how could you drive with the whole family like that? was he in the back seat holding a gun to them, or to one of the kids? i am guessing that there was another car in front (or behind), and they helped each other do the deed and make a quick getaway. maybe the one guy got behind the wheel of the family's car (after the fact), and followed or led the other car to the airport- and the other car was left somewhere else. i hope LE are looking into other abandoned cars in the area. ...or... the second guy kept on driving?

another thought-- the perp/s could have come to their house, and taken the children hostage, or somehow used them as 'bait' to make the parents follow them out into the middle of nowhere... "if you ever want to see your kids again, come with us" or something.

i am guessing it was a surprise visit by either a stranger hired to do the hit, or a visit from a family member or friend who realized that he was trying to leave the drug biz, and now was a danger to them because he knew too much... or someone that he turned on.

 

[southcitymom]

I think we can assume this crime was premeditated.

Makes you wonder how the murderer got away and if there was a second vehicle involved. Of course, the murderer also could have parked his own getaway transportation in the same area where the Jeep was found, giving him a way out of town.

I have to think that this execution involved only one person. Surely there can't be that many callous individuals together that would kill small children.

While there may well have been only one shooter, I think we can assume that others were involved in the crime.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I'm not sure if this was posted already- each member of the family was shot more than once:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localn...paper/2006/10/18/m1b_slbodies_1018.html?imw=Y

 

[reb]

LE is probably gonna stay tight-lipped about this for a long time... i can only imagine what a time they're going to have trying to work with police in brownsville, considering how bad/corrupt the border towns are right now. the cops basically have 3 choices down there: join the dark side, get killed, or run for your life. the Fla. police are going to need all the luck they can get!

 

[scandi]

Hi Reb,

Hopefully the Texas Rangers will be a laison between the Florida LE team and LE in Brownsville. They know how to deal with cops like these. I wouldn't trust them either, but if drugs are involved in this case in any way, like running or a debt owed, these B cops are going to know everything about it.

The Rangers will just walk into their office and when the B cop says, "Huh"?, the Rangers will just get the cop in a choke hold and that'll do it. "OK man, ya, we got it. What 'cha want? Ouuuuuuch!" LOL
:slap: :innocent:

Scandi

 

[Cheetah]

I haven't had time to post in a few days but wanted to add a few things.

First of all, the location of the jeep. Someone knew exactly where they were going. I grew up in that area and there is NO way someone just stumbled by that location. There is a bad area within walking distance to there. Very bad, the worst in West Palm Beach.

I leaning toward drug related but not sure how it fits. IF he made a delivery to the Orlando or Fort Pierce area, maybe he ripped someone off. I'm not sure because whoever dropped off that jeep, knew the West Palm area. Or he brought someone with him and it was a set up. He made a drop off and had money on him. If it was drug related it makes sense that his family would be with him. I would think having your family in the car would make LE less likey to do a search if they were pulled over. Which is why I think it was a "long distance" drug deal.

This situatuatio is screaming Meth Connection...

I'm exhausted! I hope I make sense!

 

[mssheila]

reb...you are supposed to turn on your emergency lights or flash your lights to acknowledge that you know you are being signaled to pull over, but not required to stop until you are in an area you are comfortable with. I would think that if it is really a police officer and they are concerned that your are a flight risk or problem, they would call for back up and then you would indeed know you were being pulled over for whatever infraction you committed.

I used to drive long stretches of highway with just my girls and I'll be damned if I stop and no one was around. Even if the nearest rest stop was not heavily populated, I would just keep on going til I got somewhere. I figure as long as have my flashers on and am within a reasonable distance of the police while driving, they cannot fault me for waiting to pull over. If wwhatever I did was so bad, then call out the troops and when I see them coming, I'll then pull over.

I was just going to chime in on this. If you have no cell phone, or no reception, you SLOW DOWN, put on your flashers and drive to the nearest safe place.

 

[kawika]

I'm exhausted! I hope I make sense!

You do. That's some good stuff to chew on.

 

[Trino]

But to multiple times shoot children? I guess I thought amoral hit men had been replaced with drive-by shooters.

 

[cheko1]

Whoever did it was sure to prove a point. I think at least one more person was involved.

I think she would of tried running with the kids.........when the guy started to shoot at her hubby. She might of been able to get around the car........as dark as it was she could of tried running. She may not of got far but attempted to save her kids. With 2 gunmen she'd of not had a chance & did what she did.

 

[Trino]

http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t9673.html

This is a good site for further information. Below is what a neighbor (Mendez) said about Jose Luis Escobedo. I think it says much about the reasons he was murdered. There is another article on this site that mentions the back seat had been torn and the radio ripped out - someone looking for drugs?

"Mendez said she didn't think José had a job because she never saw him leave or return on a regular basis. She frequently noticed him speaking on his cellphone on the front lawn.

She said she was shocked to see news reports in which neighbors talked about José's love for fixing and reselling used cars.

"I was like 'What!?' He was never doing that here," Mendez said. "This neighborhood is very strict, and you can't be running a business out of your home."

The family driveway showed no traces of oil stains where other neighbors said José had parked several cars with temporary licenses that he said he repaired.

Trish Gullo, who moved into the other house next door shortly before the Escobedos did, said she found it odd that they never brought a moving truck with furniture to unload. She also thought it unusual that José Escobedo always borrowed jumper cables from her boyfriend and other neighbors, considering that he said he repaired cars for a living.

"To be honest, I never even knew there was a woman living there, or children," said Gullo, who last saw José speaking on his cellphone Wednesday afternoon. "I saw them maybe once or twice."

 

[PolkSaladAnnie]

This story is just too sad . What IFFFFF .... they were set-up? What IF ... Jose decided to 'get out' of a situation he'd spiralled into, perhaps even made money - but then thinking of his family and their future, wanted out - and decided to relocate his family to start-over? The fact the family were 'hardly ever seen' tells me he didn't want them seen; perhaps they were lying low for an interim period. May Jose talked on his cellphone outside to protect (or keep a promise) to his wife and kids, but was being hounded?

Maybe he was being threatened and questioned as (he/she/they???) felt he may have known too much and posed a threat to (???). What if he was blackmailed/lured away and unbeknownst to him, contraband stuffed into his carseat ... and then he was followed? He may have genuinely denied having 'anything'; so (???) ripped out his seat, 'showed' him up & blasted the family and (as someone else said) a second person drove the vehicle away.

Alternatively, what if he was doing a respectable thing and turning in known or speculated information? Was he witness to a murder? Goodness, curioser and curioser - tragically.

His cellphone records, credit card details and recent time-line have to be crucial to this case. Ugh. My husband says: if you put your left foot in and swirl it all about - it may either get chopped right off then and there, or, the right foot automatically follows ... and you'll never know if it's quicksand till you're in too deep.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I was just going to chime in on this. If you have no cell phone, or no reception, you SLOW DOWN, put on your flashers and drive to the nearest safe place.

Part of the problem here is you could have to drive over 50 miles to get to an exit if you pass the last one on the FL turnpike. There are rest stops though but I don't know if there are people at them in the middle of the night.

If the guy was in any kind of illegal business getting out of it would be hard without a job and having to pay $1600/month in rent, not to mention their other bills. I don't want to assume bad things of the deceased but the money they were living on came from somewhere and so far no one seems to be able to say where that is. No fulltime job and 2 kids. Something doesn't add up.

 

[Trino]

Jose called family in Brownsville around 9:00 p.m. the night of the murders, and he did not indicate a problem. Yessica's 15 yr. old brother (also in Brownsville) attempted to call her at 11:00 p.m. to tell her about his football game but got no answer. The family stated she always answered the phone. The Escobedos were probably abducted somewhere between those hours.

I wonder if the murderer(s) was on foot, entered the home, and then forced the family to drive away. It was dark, neighbors didn't know the family well, so it was probably fairly easy to abduct them. If they were executed so far from their home on such an isolated section of roadway, this has to have been planned.

The drug world knows what happened and why. This killing has to have sent a very strong message to those who cross the wrong people. Anyone who knows anything would be petrified to talk, but can they live with the thought of children being executed?

"...police in the border town of Brownsville, though they have no specific proof, believe the killings are connected to the drug trade that seeps across the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico. "It's got to be drug-related," Lt. James Paschall said. "It's got to be a drug hit." http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/17/m1a_JOSE_1017.html

 

[Cheetah]

Whoever did it was sure to prove a point. I think at least one more person was involved.

I think she would of tried running with the kids.........when the guy started to shoot at her hubby. She might of been able to get around the car........as dark as it was she could of tried running. She may not of got far but attempted to save her kids. With 2 gunmen she'd of not had a chance & did what she did.

I agree that it had to be more than one person. THe killers are probally young thugs with no regard to life, maybe even juveniles. I just hope they find them!

 

[Beyond Belief]

I think the killer was a partner in a drug buy, probably in Fort Pierce. The killer got greedy and simply eliminated the partner/victim.

 

[Trino]

This was not just a killing but an execution - and an execution of children. I hope they get these amoral criminals ASAP. Has any information been given about the funerals?

 

[PolkSaladAnnie]

This was not just a killing but an execution - and an execution of children. I hope they get these amoral criminals ASAP. Has any information been given about the funerals?

Gosh ... THAT really hits home; these thugs will eventually be found.

Wouldn't be surprised if the perps are caught via a tip-off - because although the entire crime is atrocious and unwarranted - it involved babies - infants - toddlers. Even the most notorious, savage murderers in detention are ready to destroy child-killer inmates.

Someone, somewhere knows, suspects or feels something that may lead to capture. We can only pray they cannot live with themselves and come forward (with protection!).