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

[concernedperson]

I was CP.
Its just the location is so out of the way. I would like to know where they were traveling from. There is absolutely nothing out in that area. Their location was at least two hours south on the turnpike from Orlando and the entrances to the turnpike south of Orlando are remote areas. Very strange.

It reminds me of the day I ran into Aileen Wournos at the Burger King in Wildwood. She/they followed us for a while.Once you are on the turnpike there isn't a lot of places to exit.This is why I think the family was random and the crime was gang initiated.Absolutely could be wrong but it is that feeling we get.

 

[reb]

idahomom,

a coyote is a smuggler who brings mexicans illegally into the U.S... or takes their money and promises they will.

here is a snippet from an arizona republic article (by daniel gonzalez, 2004), to give you some insight into what is happening right under our noses:

STATE GOES AFTER COYOTES' ASSETS

A new state law will help prosecutors crack down on coyotes by seizing homes, cars, bank accounts and other assets related to the immigrant smuggling trade, Attorney General Terry Goddard announced Tuesday.

Coyote smuggling organizations generate more than $320 million in transactions annually, and by going after their assets prosecutors hope to "cut off the lifeblood of these organizations," Goddard said.

Arizona is the nation's main entry point for illegal immigration, accounting for 40 to 50 percent of the undocumented immigrants smuggled through the border with Mexico, Goddard said.

As a result, the state has seen a dramatic increase in coyote-related homicides, kidnappings, extortions and home invasions with smuggling organizations battling each other for a larger share of the trade, said Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, one of the bill's sponsors.

"The coyotes working in this state are the worst kinds of criminals," who prey on the desperation of undocumented immigrants, including women and children, Gallardo said. "They are growing at an alarming rate. . . . The cost to the state in terms of human suffering alone is worth the bill."

 

[Beyond Belief]

It reminds me of the day I ran into Aileen Wournos at the Burger King in Wildwood. She/they followed us for a while.Once you are on the turnpike there isn't a lot of places to exit.This is why I think the family was random and the crime was gang initiated.Absolutely could be wrong but it is that feeling we get.

She was a strange one, wasn't she.

 

[reb]

you ran into aileen wournos at the burger king........?????

it's also possible that if someone they knew was in the car with them, they were holding them hostage at gunpoint and forced them to drive out there.

 

[IdahoMom]

Thanks, reb, for edumacating me! :crazy:

 

[Beyond Belief]

Reb, they were headed south. Their home was just south of the Palm Beaches, so they had another hour and a half before they would have gotten home. I can only think they were coming from Orlando. I wonder if they picked someone up at the Orlando airport. That or they had been back to Texas. I would also like to know if any automobiles had been found at any of the rest stops on the turnpike, where they may have been carjacked. Obviously they were forced to stop at that remote spot by someone or that someone was driving their car.

 

[IdahoMom]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/15/ap/headlines/d8kopefo0.txt

snip

Yessica Guerrero Escobedo and Jose Luis Escobedo were high school sweethearts, a relative said, who fell in love and married. Recently, they packed up their two children and left their Texas home, headed for Florida in search of a new life.

"Everybody loves them. They would do anything for anybody. There's not enough words -they were just funny, caring, very lovely people,"

 

[scandi]

OMG Concerned, I've never heard that story before! You didn't know who she was then, but you sensed a strangeness and then saw her actually following you? I bet you about died when you learned who she was, right?

Tell us more, Tell us more! It is thread related in that you never know who you will see when out driving on the Hwy, right? lol Was that when she and her gal lover were holed up in that motel?

i'M ALL EARS!~ Scandi

 

[Cheetah]

Something to chew on.... I made this post last night and then deleted it for obvious reasons. I have enough drama in my life and honestly this case has national media attention...which I don't want. I have reported this to LE...

Back in late August I was traveling Northbound in the same area late at night. I make alot of trips on the turnpike between Orlando and West Palm Beach. This particular night it was just me and my daughter. Anyway to make a long story short;...3 guys with a flashing blue light in their car attempted to pull me over. They WERE NOT cops. I called 911 immediately and they were able to catch up with them. I have no idea what happened.

This was in the EXACT same area, the only difference is that I was in the Northbound lane. THere is no exit between Fort Pierce and Yeehaw Junction, which is about 40 miles. After Yeehaw there is no exit for 60 miles. THis is a dark and lonely road late at night.

Something made this family pull over and I get chills down my spine thinking about it. I thought what happened to me was some prank but now I really wonder if there is a connection. It could very well be some type of gang initiation. I suppose it's possible that LE didn't have anything to arrest those guys on that night. I chose to remain anonymus so I cannot get the police report.

 

[IdahoMom]

Cheetah-

That is so scary! I'm glad you called 911. Stay safe down there!

 

[reb]

oh my god. good thing you thought quickly, & had a cell phone. did you just keep driving & eventually they backed off, once they saw you weren't falling for it? and,, how exactly did you know they were not cops? because people should know this, in case they are ever in the same situation...

 

[Liz]

Cheetah, how frightening! So glad you used your common sense and everything turned out okay for you.

What you described could very well be what happened to that family.

I was thinking along somewhat similar lines, but it hadn't occured to me that their murderer may have had flashing lights to pull them over (even though I have previously heard of that ploy on FL roads).
Perhaps the family had pulled over because one of the children required their immediate attention, or maybe they had a flat tire. Then someone (or 2, or 3) pulls over to 'assist' them; see if they need help. Then all hell breaks loose for whatever motive -- robbery of vehicle, valuables and money, possibly.

It occured to be that the family may have been returning from a trip to Disney World to introduce the kids to Mickey Mouse. Whatever it was, it sure came to a horribly tragic ending.

It's sad that in this day and age we live in such a heartbreakingly cruel world.

 

[Mygirlsadie]

The mom holding her two little boys really breaks my heart. Until the end she protected her loves.. I don't really think this has anything to do at all with illegal status or whatever I could be wrong but I just don't think so. They were human beings regardless of their ''status''. I hope they find out who did this to them and why?!

 

[Trino]

I wonder what information Brownsville family members can contribute. If this crime was related to drugs or coyotes, maybe they will not be willing to say much.

 

[kawika]

I've just recently relocated to the Treasure Coast area and having been on the Florida Turnpike a few times in the last few months it's almost difficult to convey to someone who's not been on it, just what a remote, desolate length of road it is from Kissimmee to Fort Pierce (~90 miles, IIRC), especially so at night/overnight. (Though should point out, this is a little south of there.) I will say, there are a couple of curiosities, for lack of a better word, at least to my eye.

First is that it is a turnpike, which, despite the solitude, seems like a risky place to commit such a crime since when you get off the road you'll need to give both ticket & money to an attendent. So unless they or the perpetrator had one of those 'Sunpass' tags that allows one through the toll plaza electronically, you'd think an actual human being had to have seen and interacted with this person (and vehicle) not too long after the murders.

The other is the going south aspect. Which seems to mean, as noted above, that killer and victims were in the car together for a good, long stretch of empty road and it was only near where it really does begin to be somewhat populated again did the person responsible commit this horrific act. Why did they wait until then? It sounds impulsive, rather than planned (speculating very freely, of course).

My deepest condolences to the family and friends and I actually am somewhat hopeful this is evil person(s) will be caught here soon.

 

[Beyond Belief]

Surely the toll both operator who took the ticket and money when they exited the turnpike at that hour of the night noticed two empty car seats in the car. I have lived on the Treasure Coast for 35 years, there is alot of remote areas here, the turnpike being one of the worse. I stopped using that stretch from Yeehaw to Fort Pierce years ago.

 

[Cheetah]

oh my god. good thing you thought quickly, & had a cell phone. did you just keep driving & eventually they backed off, once they saw you weren't falling for it? and,, how exactly did you know they were not cops? because people should know this, in case they are ever in the same situation...

Someone was watching over me, right before I got on the turnpike I saw an FHP officer's car with the flashing lights. The lights were bright red and blue. The red caught my eye because they were so bright and I even pointed that out to my daughter. When the car attempted to pull me over, that was the first thing I noticed, they only had a blue flashing light. I was looking in the rearview mirror and there were 3 guys in the car. I know cops never travel in 3's, so I immediately sped away, I was going about 120 to get away from them. I called FHP and drove fast enough to join another group of cars. I was able to get a tag# and description. 4 FHP officers were waiting for them a little farther north and pulled them over. I have no idea what happened.

Usually when I get pulled over, I'm too busy looking for my registration to pay attention. If I hadn't noticed those flashing red lights, God only knows what could have happened. I hope this has nothing to do with what happened to this family, but something made them pull over.

 

[HollywoodBound]

Cheetah, that is a scary story. I travel the turnpike a lot. I'm right outside W. Palm Beach and we have unmarked police cars here that you would never guess are cops. I saw one a couple days ago pulling over a car on Forest Hill Blvd. it was a 1990 something Mustang. The idea to use these types of cars to trick bad guys is good, the only problem is if guys like the 3 that were following you are willing to use blue lights to pull people over I'm sure they would also use blue/red if they could get their hands on them. Now what do you do when a guy or 2 tries to pull you over in a regular unmarked car with blue and red lights. It is dangerous. Police should be in police cars for pulling people over. If they need these unmarked cars for fugitives that's another story.
Any of the theories on this thread are possible including them getting "pulled over". My guess would be either the father or someone close to him owed the guy who did this $. Seems like the crime was done out of personal anger for someone in this family, IMO. It is very sad, and it's one of those crimes I will never forget.

 

[Trino]

Minnesota, too, uses unmarked older police cars. I've always wondered what would happen if a person refused to pull over for them. Honestly, at night, I don't think I would unless there were many cars around.

MN only has Interstates, and there are usually motels, gas stations, food establishments around the exits. Then, too, the exits aren't so far apart as on the FL Turnpike.

I cannot get over such a callous murder. While I'm not a proponent of the death penalty, on this one I wouldn't say a thing - those poor defenseless children!

I find it upsetting that the cameras were not working. What excuse will Florida officials give about this, especially on such a remote stretch? If they haven't been in operation in a long time, IMO the person who was in charge of the cameras/installation/operation should be fired, and I hope this person is feeling very bad about not being able to help solve this crime.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I think the toll cameras were working, and recording. The cameras the police said were not recording are emergency cameras to stop someone speeding away from an accident or something like that. I think police may have intentionally mislead us so the suspect would think there is no tape of him. Everyone seemed to be under the impression that the cameras were not turned on because no 911 call came in. But now they are reviewing toll security tapes.