A US Border Patrol agent has been taken into custody in Texas in connection with the murder of four people and aggravated kidnapping.
« This case broke open yesterday with an aggravated kidnapping and then a lookout for a suspect, in this case Ortiz, » said Isidro R. « Chilo » Alaniz, Webb County district attorney.
A fifth person, a female who was the victim in the alleged kidnapping, was able to escape and contacted authorities, providing a description of the suspect — including a vehicle, a white Dodge truck, authorities said. The victim was « battling for survival » and had a gun pulled on her during the attempted kidnapping, according to Chapa.
Ortiz, Chapa said, was picked up in the early hours along Interstate 35 in Laredo.
« We have very strong evidence that he is the person who has been killing, » Sheriff Cuellar said at a press conference posted on CNN affiliate KGNS’s Facebook page .
Alaniz said officials will be looking at « potentially four charges of murder and aggravated kidnapping. »
CNN reached out to US Customs and Border Protection, which had no immediate comment. It was not immediately known whether Ortiz has an attorney.
