WESLACO — Nearly a week of searching for the family of a 17-year-old Mexican national who was found dead in rural Donna on Sunday has come to an end.
Jena Palacios, spokesperson for the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed via email that the Mexican Consulate located the teenage male’s next of kin in Mexico.
The investigation into his death, however, remains ongoing as questions continue to mount with regard to the circumstances surrounding his death.
Although the sheriff’s office initially withheld his identity until the family could be notified, Palacios issued a press release Thursday that identified Carlos Mario Perez Aguilar as the deceased — this to seek the public’s help in locating his relatives.
It was also previously reported that Aguilar may have hailed from the state of Veracruz, according to sheriff’s authorities.
Deputies were called at about 9:25 a.m. Sunday to an orchard grove on Val Verde Road in rural Donna — just south of Business 83 — where a concerned citizen made a “man down” report. Aguilar’s body, which was reportedly visible from the road, was discovered at the aforementioned location lying face up and displaying no visible signs of trauma.
The area in question was treated as a crime scene and Aguilar, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was identified through fingerprint analysis.
Though referred to as an equivocal death investigation, Palacios said Thursday that the sheriff’s office has not ruled out homicide in the case.
“We are treating it as a homicide until we can disprove it, but it’s still an equivocal death investigation,” she said before confirming that preliminary results of an autopsy thus far show “no evidence” of homicide. “But we’re still waiting for the rest of it.”
The “it” Palacios was referring to is the toxicology report, the results of which also remain pending.
