Police arrested a gang of five Hispanic suspects for the brutal murders of two teenagers whose bodies were found alongside a rural Colorado road, reports say.
On March 12, the bodies of Natalie Partida, 16, and Derek Greer, 15, were found on the shoulder of Old Pueblo Road near Fountain, Colorado, a town immediately south of Colorado Springs.
By March 24, five Hispanics, at least one with gang tattoos, were arrested for the murders.
The first arrest occurred on March 19 when the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Gustavo Marquez, 19, for the murders of the two Coronado High School students.
Gustavo, who has a long record of violence, was charged with kidnapping, second-degree assault, third-degree assault, and child abuse charges.
Days later, police also arrested Diego Chacon, 18, Joseph Arthur Rodriquez, 18, Marco Antonio Garcia-Bravo, 20, and Alexandra Marie Romero, 20, for the crime. All were booked on various charges such as kidnapping, robbery, and child abuse.
Police have still not released specific details of the condition of the murdered teens’ bodies or if either of the victims was sexually assaulted. There has also been no confirmation of the immigration status of the suspects.
“Since the investigation is still ongoing, I don’t want to give away some of the tactics we used, the investigative tools that assisted us, only because there still may be additional arrests forthcoming,” El Paso County Sheriff’s spokesperson Jacqueline Kirby told CBS Denver.
All five suspects are expected to appear in court next week.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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