Mother was told her children were beaten at Mexican military barracks

Pedro Alvarado is comforted during the burial of his children, Erica Alvarado Rivera, 26, Alex Alvarado, 22, and Jose Angel Alvarado, 21, in El Control, Mexico on Sunday, November, 2, 2014. The siblings, U.S. Citizens from Progreso, were found shot to death more than two weeks after they went missing from a restaurant near El Control. less Pedro Alvarado is comforted during the burial of his children, Erica Alvarado Rivera, 26, Alex Alvarado, 22, and Jose Angel Alvarado, 21, in El Control, Mexico on Sunday, November, 2, 2014. The siblings, U.S. ... more Photo: Lisa Krantz Photo: Lisa Krantz Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Mother was told her children were beaten at Mexican military barracks 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

PROGRESO — The mother of three Americans whose bodies were found in Mexico on Wednesday said a soldier at a military installation in Matamoros witnessed the siblings enter the barracks earlier this month with members of a recently formed police unit called Grupo Hercules.

But the soldier told the mother that said he feared for the safety of his family if he had intervened.

“He told us Erica was very beaten, and Jose Angel's legs were injured,” said Raquel Alvarado, 46, the mother said referring to her daughter and one of her sons who were killed. “They hit her as though she were a man.”

On Thursday, Pedro Alvarado, the father of the three Americans, identified the bodies of his children from soiled articles of clothing and photographs of tattoos on their bodies.

Tamaulipas Attorney General Ismael Quintanilla Acosta said at a news conference Thursday that Erica Alvarado Salinas, 26, Alex, 22, and Jose Angel, 21, were shot in the head and their bodies burned from exposure to the sun. A fourth body, found at the same location near Matamoros, Mexico, is believed to be Erica's boyfriend, Jose Guadalupe Castaneda Benitez, 32, was also taken.

Quintanilla said nine of the 40 members of the tactical security unit Grupo Hercules were being questioned.

On Oct. 12, witnesses said armed men forced Erica and her brothers into a vehicle marked as belonging to Grupo Hercules. She and her boyfriend had been eating at a roadside restaurant under a bridge.

Days later, Pedro was tipped off to the location of the black Jeep Cherokee his daughter had driven to his home in El Control, Mexico, the day before she was abducted. Raquel Alvarado said the vehicle was found in a the parking lot of a car dealership owned by a close confidant of Matamoros Mayor Leticia Salazar, who established the Hercules unit. Several of Erica's personal belongings were still inside, her mother said.

The Jeep was immediately returned to family, even as members of Grupo Hercules followed Pedro to his home in El Control.

Inside her modest brick home, Raquel accused Mexican authorities of being complicit in the disappearance of her children. She said she wants to to see the bodies with her own eyes. Her estranged husband was told by authorities that the bodies were too decomposed for viewing, she said.

More Information



Bodies of missing Americans found

“I'm going continue fighting for my children,” Raquel Alvarado said. “Perhaps others are parents remain silent out of fear, but I'm going to fight.”

amenslen@express-news.net

@amnelsen