José Gutiérrez Obituary, Death – A missing Ohio architect, his fiancée, her sister, and another family member were discovered buried in a mass grave in Zacatecas, Mexico. José Gutiérrez, 36; his fiancée, Daniela Márquez, 31; her sister, Viviana Márquez, 26; and cousin Irma Vargas, 27, were discovered at a ranch near Tepetongo, the families reported to local media Thursday. ‘I wasn’t prepared for anything, but this is the one I was least prepared for,’ a family member posted on Facebook. ‘Fly high, cousins, shine.’ The Zacatecas State Attorney General’s Office announced in a statement Wednesday that four remains were discovered Tuesday, a day after the National Guard discovered two vehicles, including the one in which the missing group was going.
The bodies of Daniela Márquez (left) and José Gutiérrez (right) were discovered at a ranch in Tepetongo, a city in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas, according to their families. The pair went out to supper with Márquez’s sister and cousin on December 25 before disappearing after leaving the restaurant. Daniela Márquez texted her mother her position only moments before she, her cousin Irma Vargas (pictured), and her fiancé went missing on Christmas Eve. The National Guard searched the group’s bullet-riddled vehicle and located a man’s body inside the trunk.
On Tuesday, investigators scoured the area and discovered the bodies buried in a ditch. ‘Preliminary forensic anthropology analysis indicates that there may be at least four separate victims, three female, and one male,’ stated the State Attorney General’s Office of Zacatecas in a statement. According to the prosecutor’s office, the bodies were beyond identification and DNA testing would be required to authenticate their identities. The victims went out for dinner on December 25 in Jerez de Garcia, Zacatecas, but never returned home. Gutiérrez, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico, traveled from Hamilton, Ohio, to Zacatecas on December 22 to spend the holidays with Daniela Marquez.