Educator and El Monte School Board Member Agustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo was killed in Mexico just before the dawn of this new year, and now his family is fighting to keep his name in the headlines, hoping public pressure will help Mexican authorities find his killer.
Representative Judy Chu, D-El Monte conducted a news conference Monday, along with the Salcedo family to talk about his case.
"That the attention that the case has received in the media and amongst the highest government officials on both sides of the border is actually paying off," said Judy Chu, Congresswoman (D-Calif.).
It's that attention Chu wants to maintain in order to pressure the Mexican government to solve the Salcedo case, but even Chu admits a resolution is a long shot.
"There have been 637 murders in Durango, Mexico and none of them have been solved," said Chu.
Raging drug violence and rampant corruption have been a major problem in Durango, the area of Mexico where Salcedo was killed.
The 33-year-old El Monte school board member and his wife were having dinner on Dec. 30 with some of her ex-classmates in a restaurant when armed men burst in and kidnapped Salcedo and the five others. The bodies of all six were found the next day.
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It's still not clear if any of the other victims were involved in the drug wars which have ravaged Durango. But authorities have said Salcedo was an innocent victim, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Today his brother spoke on behalf of the family.
"One of the requests that we're making directly to the F.B.I or to the United States is to see if we can set up a reward system or a tip line of some sort," said Carlos Salcedo, the victim's brother.
At the request of the Mexican government the F.B.I. got involved two weeks ago, and is now in Mexico analyzing forensic evidence.
