Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz was arrested near Laredo, Texas, on Saturday on charges of murdering four women and kidnapping a fifth. The fifth woman had escaped from Ortiz after a scuffle and, half-naked, she fled to a gas station where she was able to notify police.
“We consider this man to be a serial killer who was preying on one victim after another,” said Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar. “Fortunately, he’s now been apprehended.”
The four victims, two of which have been identified and two of which remain unknown, were all believed to be prostitutes from the Laredo area. The murders, which took place individually, began in early September. Ortiz stands accused of having shot all four and dumped their bodies in remote locations. Thanks to identifying evidence provided by the alleged fifth victim, Ortiz was caught hiding in a truck in the parking lot of a hotel in Laredo.
Prostitutes are frequently targeted by serial killers because of their itinerant lifestyle and fear of the police, which makes them are less likely to be reported missing and seek help from law enforcement. The infamous Green River Killer of the 1980s, Gary Ridgeway, murdered nearly 50 prostitutes from the Seattle, Washington area before finally being caught in November 2001
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