Episode 787: The Matamoros Devil Murders (Part 1) | Forensic Files

Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash. I'm Elena. She's back. I'm back. And this [clears throat]
is Morbid. This is Morbid. >> [music] >> Oh, I'm >> Are you alive? I'm alive. I'm alive. We
made it through. [music] We just had one of those things that, you know, the stomach bug. It just rolls
right through. And then it paused and came back, [music] which is really [ __ ] It paused before it hit the last
of us and then it hit the last of us. Then we cleared it on out. >> That's [ __ ]
>> goodbye. Glad you cleared it out though. I appreciate that. >> We made it through, but man, everybody
wash your hands. >> Wash your hands. Make sure your kids are washing their hands as much as possible.
I know sometimes that doesn't do it, but trust me cuz we're a hand-washing house.
At least it's getting hot out again. Like does I feel like when it's hot viruses they don't do as well. Don't
thrive. Well, not some of them do, but I don't know if this one does. >> like tummy bugs don't necessarily
>> one thrives in like cold weather I think the best. >> Yeah, which of course it's literally
about to get cold again. Of course. Like hotter than Satan's butt hole outside. >> It's true.
I got to announce this solo and it didn't quite feel so right. So we just want to remind you one more time that we
have a game. We have a [ __ ] game with Hunt A Killer. >> This feels so much better that you're
here and we can talk about it together. >> I'm really excited. It's nuts cuz I was
saying when I announced it, that was our first sponsor that we ever had on the pod.
>> They were the first ones that reached out. >> Hunt A Killer. I was always a big Hunt A
Killer girly and I'm being so for real. I need I should find the boxes somewhere
like the early boxes and it was when they came in those like black plain boxes. >> Yep. In the early days me and John used
to love them especially like before we had kids. >> Oh, yeah. We loved that kind of thing.
>> That's really cute. You played games together? >> Yeah, we loved games. >> Me and Drew are really good
>> games. The only games that me and Drew play are like Mario Kart. Yeah, we love
Mario Kart, too. >> Mario Kart. We're we're an equal opportunity game family. >> board game house, but I would like to
become a board game house. >> are really fun with kids. >> just playing a board game with your kid.
Yeah. Yeah, I got that like reading board game. >> Yeah, it was helping me. I was learning
how to read. There you go. Good. I'm glad. >> [laughter] >> But yeah, um we're [ __ ] stoked about
the Salem Slicer. Salem Slicer. It's very 80s themed. It's very New England. >> It's Salem, obviously.
>> It's very like a fake true crimey. Mhm. Uh you're going to There's a special exclusive podcast episode in the game
from us. >> cool is that? Uh which is really fun and it was really fun to do. They've been great to work with. We had
a blast. We were part of the whole thing from beginning to end. I know it's crazy
that it's actually like hitting stores now. Cuz it's been It's been a while. >> It's been a while. And it's just like if
you ever wanted to be a detective, now you get to do so. >> It is, honestly. Hunt A Killer is so fun
that way. It had There's like real evidence in there. There's things you can touch, things you have to
unlock, things like it you really have to get into it. It's fun as hell, I'm telling you.
>> through all the evidence. So, right now it's available for pre-order at Walmart.
So, definitely go pre-order it, please. Do it. And do we have any other biz nasty, Big Red?
>> Um biz nasty, I would say uh hey, if you're looking for a signed copy of The Butcher Legacy, speaking of
pre-orders, speaking of pre-orders, >> Hey. uh go to Premier Collectibles. I have the the link is on my Instagram.
Um go click it. Premier Collectibles. I'm sure if you type in The Butcher Legacy on there, it'll come up. Um I'm
signing things for them, signing copies, and I will continue until you guys say,
"Hey, you dumb [ __ ] we don't want any more signed copies." I doubt people will
say that. I I doubt [laughter] I doubt the true blues will say that. I doubt the good people will say that.
>> I have been reading your book all afternoon and like all I I read like a little bit last week. I was reading it
at a pedicure and I was like I'm probably scaring everybody around me. >> like >> [laughter]
>> There's just blood dripping off the off the cover and people are like, "What are
you reading?" >> What's going on there? Is that okay? It's not okay. But I love it.
>> Yay! >> I Alaina always has me read like when she's writing. So with the first two I
read a lot of chapters before the final product, but I obviously then still read
the books and that was fun and I still loved them. But with this one you didn't have me read as much as you were
writing, so it's like a completely different reading experience. >> I love that. That's so fun.
Cuz I forget the twist. Yeah, that's it. I know you were like, "I know there's a
twist, but I don't know." I'm like, "Ha ha ha." I know. I was like [clears throat] I'm not going to tell
you. >> I know. I was I'm very excited about it. I'm getting very close to the end. I'm
like more than halfway through. I'm very excited. It's I If you guys I'm telling
you get into it, man. Get into it, yeah. >> Get into it. >> Please. It's fun. I swear. I [laughter]
swear. And I'll love you forever. That's nice. >> So make sure you go pre-order The
Butcher's Legacy. And if you search for some reason you're like, "Fuck that, I don't want a signed copy, but I would
like a copy of the book." I get it. For sure. Why not? >> Okay. >> If If you want to do that, go to
butcherslegacy.com and buy it anywhere you want to, really. >> anywhere the [ __ ] you want. You can You
can pre-order it anywhere you want. >> The world is really your oyster. >> It is and I'll and I'll keep making sure
it's your oyster. >> You can't We should be specific. You can't buy it at like an IHOP. No. Or
like a Denny's. >> that's an idea. Okay. Yeah, [laughter] there you go. See if you can talk to
your literary agent about that one. >> to try to get it in anywhere. So International House of Pancakes, here
she comes. >> Here I come. >> [laughter] >> We are slap-happy because this is later.
>> And I feel like we never record this late. >> No, we don't. >> But life happened. Life sure happens.
>> Life has continued to happen. >> Yeah, it keeps on happening. >> I like that life keeps happening.
>> Yeah, that's great. We love that. >> it gets a little crazy. But sometimes it's just hard to fit everything in the
day. All right, everybody. So, look at your stopwatch. The episode's about to start. Okay.
All right, you can say that it's about to start now. >> Okay, there you go. There's your minute
mark. Thanks so much, whoever you are. >> [laughter] >> So, we are going to be talking today.
This is going to be a two-part uh >> A two-part uh >> Two-part uh It is true crime. It's true
crime. >> It's true crime. Yes. >> So, this this is a very tragic case. Very interesting, though, I will say.
>> know this case. I didn't know this case before Dave found this and was telling
me all about it, and I said, "Please do that one." And we started looking into it, and I said, "Whoa, a lot is going on
here." So, we're going to go over a lot in part one. We're going to be talking about Mark Kilroy and who he was and how
he found himself to be missing, and we'll get into right when they're getting hot on the case, but not quite
there yet. And then we'll pick up again in part two. Oh, I love that. So, let's talk about Mark Kilroy first. He was
born on March 5th, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois. >> Chicago. He was the oldest of two
children born to Jim and Helen. And not long after he was born, his parents decided they wanted to leave the
city for a slower pace of life, and they ended up moving to Texas, Santa Fe to be
specific. For his entire life, Mark Kilroy was the kind of kid that parents can only dream
of. Aw. He went to church regularly with his parents. He was an active member of
the community, especially the church community. His father said, "When he was around, he always lifted people up. He
went in the right direction all the time. He was a real good guy to be around." >> Aw. He also was always a good student.
He avoided drinking. He didn't do drugs. When he was in high school, he joined the uh, Santa Fe High School baseball
and the basketball team. And he was involved in student government, he was involved in Boy Scouts, but he always
made sure to spend enough time on his studies at the same time. So, he's like involved in all these different
extracurriculars, but also managing to be a good student at the same time. >> easy. No, it's not. Now, when he
graduated from high school in 1986, he was accepted at Southwest Texas State University, and he had a brief stint
there before he ended up transferring to Tarleton State University, and that was
on a basketball scholarship. Okay. Sports had always played a really big part in his life, but after a few years,
it became clear to him that this wasn't going to be his whole life. Like, he wasn't going to be in the NBA. Yeah. So,
he transferred to a third school, this time the University of Texas, and he ended up deciding to study medicine
there. Oh, wow. That's a big deal. It is. Now, even though their lives had led them separate directions, Mark and his
core group of friends from high school still managed to stay in touch through their college years. And whenever they
were home on school break or anything like that, they always got together. Mhm. Now, in, uh, late winter of 1989,
Mark and his friends Bradley Moore, Bill Huddleston, and Brent Morton started planning details for their spring break
vacation. Okay. They were stoked about this. Yeah, of course. >> As soon as the semester ended, they were
going to be back in or they were going to meet back in Santa Fe and take off together for a few days on South Padre
Island, which is a resort town not too far from the Mexican border. For Mark, that year was more exciting
than the usual spring break trip because it also coincided with his 21st birthday.
>> Oh, what a what a lucky thing. And remember, he didn't really drink or do drugs or anything like that. So, he's 21
now. He can drink for it to be legal. >> can have a little drinky-poo if he wants
to. And what better time to have a drink than spring break? >> Of course. They had all attended spring
break break festivities in South Padre before, but this was the first time that also that Mark and his four high school
best friends were going to be visiting together. So, that was also like an exciting thing.
As soon as Bradley finished up his exams around noon on March 10th, he jumped he
he jumped in his car and jumped in his Itzu. And he drove to Austin to pick up Mark.
And they headed to Santa Fe to meet up with Bill and Brent. Okay. It's also very funny to me that there's Bradley,
Bill. >> Bill, Brent, and Mark. >> Yeah, it's so so >> [laughter] >> Now, along the way they caught up on the
things that they'd missed in each other's lives, about their plans for the future. Just boy talk, just vibing. Just
hanging. Just hanging. Uh Bradley said, "We talked about how it would probably be our last summer at home together."
Aw. Which is like that's really sad. It's sad, but it's also like okay, so like let's make the most of this trip.
Like Yeah. There's a there's like a tension there almost where you know this is like kind of the end of a chapter.
>> Well, it does it feels like one of those like you know those shows or movies you
see where it's like the group of friends and it's their last summer at home before they all head off in different
directions. >> Yeah. And you want it to end well. Like this is supposed to be like, you know, a
summer where you get like you have fun and you you let loose. >> Yeah, it's like supposed to end with
this like happy ending. >> It's supposed to end all together. And I now that you're beginning to talk, I do
know this. >> Okay. Um I do know this. I think we talked about it on Crime Countdown.
You know what? That actually makes sense cuz the name >> I think you're right. The name sounded
really familiar to me. >> Yeah. And all of a sudden I was like, "Wait a minute." We talked about so much
on Crime Countdown and there was like such little bursts of information, like snippets exactly. So, every now and
again I'm like, "Did we talk about Bob?" >> Yeah, I'm like, "Did we do a whole episode on that?" And then I'm like,
"No, we didn't." >> I know, exactly. >> Yeah. So, it was late by the time they reached
Santa Fe, but the four boys decided they didn't want to waste any time. So, they
started making their way to South Padre around midnight. In total it took about 9 hours for them to get there, including
two stops along the way. But, there There no time to rest. As soon as they checked into the hotel, they showered,
they ate, and they hit the beach. Yeah. This is their last trip. They got to make the most of it.
Now, with roughly a quarter of a million students expected at South Padre that spring break, the entire area had been
transformed in anticipation of all these kids' arrivals. According to journalist
Gary Cartwright, the weekend attractions and offerings included beer companies sponsoring an unprecedented variety of
entertainment, including free movies, free concerts, free calls home, Which like please just think about that. Yeah,
which is wild. and surf simulator rides. Religious organizations from as far away
as Madison, Wisconsin, were handing out pamphlets and free suntan lotion urging students to pray rather than to party. A
beer company offered the free use of a swimming pool to students who didn't mind being filmed for part of a
commercial, and the boys took advantage of it. >> Yeah. So, it's just like all kinds of
things going on. >> Yeah, again, it's just like let loose. It reminds me of like [clears throat]
like just that little like snippet reminds me of Saved by the Bell when they go on that
like beach vacation. >> yes. >> Right? >> Yeah. I I for some reason that that episode sticks out of my head. It might
have been a series of episodes. >> It's like Saved by the Bell, and then it made me think of Gilmore Girls when they
go on spring break. I don't even remember that when they go on you It's like You can count on a girl. You can
count on Elena to pinpoint a specific Gilmore Girls reference. >> absolutely. >> Wild.
>> Yeah. So, Mark and Brad took advantage of the free phone calls home, and they let
their parents know that they all had got there safely, and they were just hanging
out on the beach. Later that night, they met up with a group of girls who traveled from Purdue University, and
they just spent the night drinking and hanging out in their joining hotel rooms until dawn, getting to know each other,
just having a good time. Yeah. Within a couple days of their arrival, the four guys had kind of settled into a
routine of waking up early, hitting the beach, going back to their hotel rooms for a little nap before ending or before
starting the evening's round of drinking, like typical vacation. Yeah. Occasionally the routine was interrupted
by an event like the daily Miss Tan Line contest. Miss Tan Line. >> I love it. But for the most part, it was
just a lot of sun, a lot of drinking, a lot of fun. So this was pretty much what
they expected, but none of them had expected it to get old quite so fast. And by Sunday, March 12th, they decided
they wanted to change it up a little bit. Like they were like, "Okay, why don't we go like sightsee? Why don't we
go to Matamoros, Mexico, just over the border? We're so close to Mexico, it would be so fun to travel."
>> Yeah. So that night, Mark and his friends stopped at the Sonic Drive-In in Port Isabel for dinner. There they met a
group of girls from the University of Kansas who were also on their way to Matamoros. So they all decided, "Okay,
let's go together." And the girls followed behind as Brett drove to the border. After parking their cars on the
Brownsville side of the bridge, they all walked across the border into Matamoros,
and they just spent the night kind of bar hopping, and they specifically landed at one bar called Sergeant
Pepper's. Okay. Once they got back to their cars early the next morning, the two groups said their goodbyes, and they
went their separate ways. Now they all had so much fun in Matamoros that night. So after a day at
the beach the next day, they all decided, "Why don't we go back into Mexico again? Like that was so much
fun." Yeah. So they did, and they arrived a little after 10:00 p.m. It turned out that Mark and his friends
were not the only one with that plan though. By the time they arrived in the small border town, the sidewalks were
crammed with nearly 15,000 students. >> Holy [ __ ] All of whom had come to party
and celebrate spring break. So looking for the bar with the shortest line, they ended up at a place called
Los Sombreros, described as a spot with a lot of neon and music loud enough to shatter brick. Woah. Yeah, sounds like
my worst nightmare. >> just going to say I hate everything about that. >> I will say though, if I was 21, dream.
Like let's go. >> Yeah, would have loved it. Now, couldn't pay me. >> Couldn't, no. Music loud enough to
shatter brick is actually so scary to me. Yeah, it actually is. >> [laughter] >> We went to dinner together one time. I
forget where we went, but I just remember sitting down at the table with you and the music was really loud and I
you looked like you were going to crawl inside of yourself. >> was [laughter and gasps]
so I remember that vividly and I know exactly where it was. >> Cuz I think you literally looked at me
and said, "How are we going to get through this?" >> I said I was like, "I can't hear
anything. Like I don't know what's going on." >> And what if I agree to something crazy?
>> Yeah, I could not. Yeah, loud music [clears throat] is a lot, especially if it can split brick. Yeah. So after a few
hours with music splitting brick at Loston Bros, they traveled deeper into the city ending up at the London Pub,
which I feel like you wouldn't expect to see. No. It had just rebranded itself actually as the Hard Rock Cafe, which
has no relation to the American chain. Really? >> Yeah. Wow. Uh the group apparently we
all just have good ideas. All right. >> The group stayed there until about 2:00 in the morning and then Bill decided it
was probably time to head back across the bridge back into the US technically. So by that point the four boys had
separated when they walked in when they walked out of the bar, Mark's friend saw
him leaning against a car outside talking to a girl who he had met earlier that day at the Miss Tanline contest.
But [snorts] seeing him and getting to him were two very different things entirely at this point because remember
I just said there's 15,000 people littering the streets like I'm stressed out. >> All I can picture now like just to
relate this to us and maybe anybody else in Boston is like the um St. Patty's parade or like pride or something like
similar. >> or when it's like um 4th of July on the Esplanade. Yes, like millions.
That's what I'm thinking of. >> Just like shoulder to shoulder. >> Yeah. So getting to him was going to be
tough. So rather than try to fight the movement of the crowd, Brad and Brent figured it would be easier to just go in
the direction of the bridge that led back to Texas and then they could all just meet there cuz they they figured
why wouldn't we all just do that? >> Yeah, why not? By that time Mark had caught up with Bill and so they assumed
that they would find their friends. But as they neared the border, Mark told Bill to go ahead of him because he had
to relieve himself, so he ducked behind a tree to do that. A short time later, Bill met up with Brad and Brent, and the
three of them were sitting around waiting for Mark, who they figured would emerge at any second, but minutes passed
and he still wasn't showing up. And eventually, they started to get concerned. By then, nearly all of the
bars had closed, and all of the tourists had flowed back over the border, and there were still no signs of Mark.
So, they spent hours roaming the town looking for him. They went back over the border, but it was like he vanished
without a trace. Damn. >> He was just gone. And honestly, you don't think, and I know like
you don't think about this happening with like a man. No. You know what I mean? Like when it like
>> your first thought. >> Like when it's like a group of men together, [clears throat]
you would assume Nothing can touch them. >> Like they're invincible, essentially.
You know what I mean? I know that's not true. I'm just saying that's the initial
thought. >> way we're kind of like conditioned to think with these kinds of stories.
>> a group of young men, one of them suddenly going missing is like, what? >> You're like, how did that happen?
>> safe? Yeah. It's It's just like very shocking. >> It is. It's And it's chilling. Yeah, it is chilling.
That's the perfect way to describe it. So, they spent all night searching the increasingly empty streets of Matamoros
for Mark, growing more and more concerned with every single hour that passed. Finally, when the sun came up
and they still hadn't found any sign of Mark, the three decided maybe he had just gotten a ride back to South Padre
with someone that he met at the bar, maybe that girl that they saw him talking to earlier. They're like,
hopefully we're overreacting here. Yeah. Because the alternative that their friend had now disappeared in a foreign
country was way too frightening to accept at the time. And like, who takes a grown man? Well, and you don't I mean
I I don't think you initially go to that. Like obviously, when you're looking for your friend for hours and
hours and you can't find them, like panic starts to set in. But then, after a little bit, you're like, "Okay, let's
be a little logical here. Maybe he did just get a ride home." >> Yeah, like your your brain doesn't want
to believe that the alternative. >> Right. Unfortunately though, when they got back
to the Sheraton later that morning back in Texas, they discovered Mark's bed was
empty. It didn't look like it had been slept in, and there was nothing in the room to
indicate that he returned. Exhausted though from their night of partying and search and searching, they went to bed
hoping that when they woke back up, he would be back. Remember, this is the '80s. Like, we're
not all super well-informed in how to respond to a situation like this. And honestly, I think what you
were just saying as men, They just weren't thinking of it. >> They're not thinking like that.
>> Yeah, cuz they're not conditioned to think like this. And again, remember, like back then, it's not like they were
listening to true crime podcasts or watching documentaries and Dateline and seeing this kind of [ __ ] happening all
the time. >> Exactly. This was not something that anybody was thinking about, you know?
But, here's the thing. When they woke up several hours later, Mark still wasn't back, and they decided that under the
circumstances, it didn't seem wise just to keep waiting for him to show back up.
So, that afternoon, March 15th, they all together went to the South Padre Island
Police Department, and they filed a missing person's report, including every relevant detail that they could remember
from the night before. Now, during spring break, the usually quiet South Padre community had learned to
brace itself for an increase in everything that comes with the increase in the number of visitors, from hotel
bookings to also reports of criminal activity. So, Mark wasn't necessarily the first
person to be reported missing during spring break. He wasn't even the first person actually reported missing that
week. >> That's wild. >> It's yeah. >> Spring break scares the [ __ ] out of me.
I never was allowed to go on spring break. >> I never was either. >> And I will not allow my children to go
on spring break, and I know I know that there's like all these things that you say before you have kids that you're not
like, "I'm not going to do this, and I'm not going to do that." That's one I know, I will be standing 10 toes down
on. As someone with kids, no, I'm not either. So it's just not happening. We can take a family vacation.
>> [laughter] >> So while the police took the report seriously, they still was they still
were confident that he would show back up. >> Yeah, they probably thought he was like
drunk and like passed out somewhere. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. But when Mark's friends mentioned
Mexico, the detectives did become somewhat more concerned. Author Jim Shoots, and we will link his book in the
show note show notes, he said, "No matter how casually the kids themselves took this business of crossing into
Mexico to raise hell, no one in law enforcement in South Texas took Mexico cases lightly."
Cuz you're in a completely different jurisdiction. Yeah, of course. You don't Yeah. A completely different area.
Now throughout the 1980s specifically, drug trafficking and organized crime had spiked in Mexico due mostly to a massive
economic crisis that put a lot of people out of work and led to few options for legitimate employment. Criminal gangs
that were once very poorly organized and focused mostly on petty crime had become
a lot more formal, and now there were lots of different networks for trafficking guns, drugs, people, you
name it. Gang violence was a problem all over the country, but it was particularly
challenging at the American border. Oh, I'm sure. Because large amounts of drugs
and other illicit substances were flowing into the country there. So it wasn't that uncommon for tourists or
unlucky American workers to get kidnapped and ransom back to their families. So this is what the investigators in
South Padre had been thinking when they got the report about Mark going missing in Matamoros. And if that was what
happened to Mark, the small police department in South Padre did lack the resources to deal with a case like this.
>> mean, that's a big deal. Yeah. So that afternoon the case was forwarded to Cameron County Sheriff Alex Perez in
Brownsville, Texas, which you do have to respect how quickly these police forces
moved. >> Yeah. That doesn't always happen. >> No. It's not often that a small police
department realizes that they don't have the resources. >> out. >> So when they do, like you got to snap on
that. >> Yeah. Now, if Mark had been kidnapped for ransom, the county sheriff would have
had the resources and the regional knowledge necessary to resolve everything, hopefully, without getting
on the wrong side of Mexican authorities. Mhm. So Perez assigned his uh the case to his most reliable deputy,
George Gavito, who immediately recruited the help of Deputy Lupe Limas, a formal
Brownsville police officer, who had recently started working with the sheriff's department. And he had a lot
of experience working on cases that crossed over into the border. So this was kind of That's who you need.
>> duo, right? Yeah. So Gavito and Limas were aware of the potential implications
of Mark having gone missing, especially over the border. He was one of 60 Americans to have been reported missing
in Mexico in just 3 months. >> Whoa. Yeah. However, they were also familiar, like
we were just saying, with the chaos and, you know, just the drunken vibes going around on spring break.
>> So neither of them were ready to assume the complete worst. >> Yeah, cuz this could just be debauchery.
Exactly. [laughter] >> And honestly, I'm sure they were hoping it was. >> that's the thing. You're hoping this is
just a lesson learned. >> Exactly. >> So instead of going to worst case scenario, they decided to proceed as
they would with any other missing person's case, operating on the assumption and the hope that Mark had
simply caught a ride with a girl that he met at a bar and he would turn back up soon enough.
That's how they planned to approach the case, but before the day was over, that plan changed dramatically.
After Mark's friends filed a report with the South Padre police, they returned to
the hotel and they called Mark's parents, obviously, to let them know that he was missing. What the the call
no parent wants to get. >> And the call, like it's got to be so stressful to send your
kids on spring break. Like And also, here's the other thing. These aren't kids. He's a 21-year-old, so they didn't
have a lot of say in if he went to he didn't. >> their kid and it's like >> you go you sit there and you're like it
won't happen to my kid. >> Right. And then when you the worst happens, I don't even know how you bring
you wrap your brain around it. >> just not feel like real life. >> cuz you're like no, this is literally
the worst case scenario. How is it actually happening? >> Right. Ugh. So, they had heard the news
reports of people going missing along the Mexican border as it was all happening and they immediately worried
that something bad had happened to their son once they realized he was one of those missing people.
>> So, rather than wait to hear from the police, Jim called his brother Ken who was a US Customs agent which like great
contact to have. >> Uh he was based in LA and he asked for his help. Now, Ken knew his nephew pretty well and
he knew that well Mark might have had a few beers now and again and you know, maybe partied too hard every now and
again, he wasn't a drug user and there wasn't anything else on that side of the border that he would have gotten caught
up in. >> Yeah. Plus, his car was still on the American side of the border and all of
his belongings were inside and they were they knew that he wouldn't have just abandoned all of that.
So, in just a few hours the missing person's case had escalated from a local matter to now a federal investigation.
Damn. Yeah, fast. By the time which is honestly a good thing I think. >> Good, yeah, that it got leveled this
high. Yeah, by the time Ken Kilroy and his partner Oren Nak got in touch with uh George Gavito, several calls had
already been made to the Cameron County Sheriff's Department and a large team of
law enforcement officials was assembled to search for Mark. At the same time, Mark's father Jim was
on his way to Brownsville to help in in the search however he could. Gavito remembered later about Mark's
father, uh he came into the Sheriff's office and he never left the Sheriff's office. He was there for 30 days each
single day, Saturdays and Sundays too. He begged me to help him look for his son. Oh my god, that just destroys my
heart. >> That's a parent right there. >> That's a full-blown parent. The problem was while Gavito and the
rest of the investigators assigned to the case obviously desperately wanted to find Mark Kilroy, they had no evidence
and there were no leads to work with. And even if they did have those leads and did have that evidence, none of them
had jurisdiction to launch an investigation in Mexico. Yeah. So that's really really complicated there.
And you're not thinking that as a 21-year-old on spring break crossing over the border. No.
>> But now that we have that information, it is something that you have to consider.
>> do. >> If something happens to me >> It's not that easy for people to get the
resources and the jurisdiction and the warrants and the this and the that and the share information. And that's why I
think it's so important that we share stories like this. >> Yeah, because you need to know that you
have to at least be aware of these things. It's It's so scary. >> Cuz this this is anywhere. Anywhere
that's not where you're based and where you're all your [ __ ] is. >> Mhm. Well, it's just like we were
talking about >> find you. >> Yeah, just like when we were talking about the Amy Bradley case like in
international waters. >> It just becomes more complex. The web becomes tighter and that's hard.
>> It's awful. And it sucks because people should be able to go on vacation, should
be able to let loose without monsters preying upon them. >> people just stop being [ __ ] It's
never happened in all of humanity, I don't think. >> sick if we could all just agree to stop
being [ __ ] >> It would I would love that. Everyone. >> I would love that. >> What a peace on earth is a real I'm
like, damn. I know. That is You just You wish somebody would get that that wish [clears throat] and
actually have it happen. Honestly. Cuz it would be real nice if everyone was just chilling. Yeah, it would be great.
Imagine if everyone was just chilling. >> I can't even picture it to be honest with [laughter] you.
>> That everybody was just minding their own business. No. Helping out their >> Helping their brethren when they could.
Yeah. I mean, that's how I try to live my life. I Obviously, everybody can be an [ __ ] sometimes, but like to this
degree, no. At this point in my life, I'm just trying to chill. Yeah. She just threw up the She's saying, "I'm just
trying to chill." [laughter] I am. I'm just trying to chill. So, but no, that's like I said, I really do think that's
why we should be >> Yeah, telling these stories. So, aware of the restrictions on law
enforcement in international in an international case, the Kilroys turned to the nearby communities for help. In
the early days, Jim went down to the bridge that crossed into Matamoros and handed out missing flyers from morning
until night, just hoping that somebody he was going to run into and hand that flyer to would know something and give
them some kind of lead they could work with. That truly breaks my heart. It's awful. Family friends also joined the
search. Uh, Mark's former basketball coach, Joe Rodriguez, spent the first week traveling back and forth to
Matamoros, uh, interviewing what are called veladores, and those are the men who
provided security for local businesses and bars, kind of like a bouncer. Jim said of the Rio Grande Valley
communities that helped search for Mark, "They were just absolutely wonderful how
they coddled us and took care of us." Which is really sweet. Like, it's uh, this case does not end up No. in a
in a This is not a happy ending, which I obviously hate, but at the very least, it's nice that these communities were
able to work together and that people were supported in the search. >> Now, while the family and the community
continued to search on both sides of the border for Mark, the sheriff's department took two more atypical
methods of investigation. A few days into the search, uh, Gavito brought Brad Moore into the
sheriff's office to be hypnotized, hoping that it might jog his memory and reveal some critical clue about the
night that Mark went missing. Now, when I first heard that, I was like, "Okay, maybe that'll work." Like, sure.
But, you know, sometimes these things work. Hey. We don't know everything there is to know. We really don't.
>> mind, about what the [ __ ] happens. So, if something could potentially help and
especially I would as a parent I would do [ __ ] anything. Absolutely. >> Nothing would be off the table.
>> Absolutely. So, Willie Cannon of the US Customs Service said, "It's kind of an
unusual situation because there's really nothing to go on." Yeah. So, when Brad was unable to come up with anything new,
they moved on to Bill Huddleston. And while he was under hypnosis, he described seeing Mark walking near a
quote Hispanic man with a cut on his cheek right before he disappeared. Hmm. Which is like
pretty to have the cut on the cheek to go on, that's a little more than just your typical
description of somebody, you know? >> So, Bill said he didn't recall Mark talking to the man, but when he looked
back he said he saw the strange man motion towards Mark. Okay. Interesting, right?
>> Yeah. So, when more than a week passed and there was still no sign of Mark, the
Kilroys were getting desperate and they turned to another outlet for help that was kind of a newer outlet. Just one
year earlier the TV program America's Most Wanted made its debut, which like Wow.
>> Isn't that crazy? >> feel like that's always been a thing even though you know it's not.
>> life it always has been. And pretty much your life, too. Like for most of our
most of your life and all of mine it has. >> Yeah. So, and the thing was it had debuted a year earlier before this case
and it had already led to the capture of many violent criminals. >> Yeah. So, the producers of America's
Most Wanted agreed to feature the story on the program and they immediately traveled out to Brownsville a recreation
of of the night that everything happened and Mark went missing to air on the show. Okay. While they were taking a
break from filming the segment, a woman staggered up to one of the cameramen, Scott Judy. She was clutching a crumpled
missing person's poster in her hand and she told him, "He's dead, you know. They
found him shot in the head." What the [ __ ] Out of completely nowhere. That's horrifying. And just like what?
What? It turned out that rumors had already started circulating among the spring breakers in South Padre that Mark
had been found dead. Moments later one of the producers angrily escorted the woman out of the
area and made sure she didn't come back, but it got everybody thinking. >> Yeah. Now the segment was rushed to
completion and it aired on the show a few nights later along with a 20-second PSA recorded both in Spanish and in
English telling viewers how they could help. The episode did result in more than 150 tips called in by viewers
claiming everything from Mark was dead to Mark was seen working in a convenience store in California, not
true. None of the tips really led to anything, but according to Jim Schutz it allowed investigators to see into the
Mexican side by tracking what the Mexicans were doing with tips from the show. So they didn't have jurisdiction
there, but now that community is able to kind of talk to them a little bit. >> Yeah. So there's it's giving them
something. >> Yeah, for sure. They really hadn't made any more progress on the case than the
American counterparts, but detectives in Texas could see that the Mexican investigators were taking Mark's
disappearance very seriously and they also were running all these tips down. So that was nice.
>> Yeah, so things are in motion. >> They are. But by the end of the month investigators on both sides of the
border weren't much closer to finding Mark Kilroy than they had on the day he went missing and it was starting to feel
like he was never going to be found. Mhm. In order to feel like they were doing something productive and
proactive, Jim and Helen withdrew Mark from school. Jim told reporters, "We're trying to
find out what things we can do cuz we don't really know. We're holding up well, but it's a matter of what you can
do, how much can you do and you start to run out of things you can do to try to find Mark."
>> Yeah. It's just awful. >> It is. Now just as everybody was starting to lose hope that Mark would
ever be found, there was a break in the case and it came in one of the most unexpected and innocuous forms.
On the end this is where we really take a hard left. So, bear with me, everybody. All right, I'm here. We're
going into a completely different area here. So, on the afternoon of April 1st, Mexican police were conducting a
checkpoint on Highway 2. That's the main road that connects Matamoros to Texas. Okay. The setup was a simple uh drug
checkpoint like countless others along the border, basically attempting to stop drugs from coming into or out of Mexico.
Okay. Now, they're sitting there on this on this stop and they spot police spot a red truck they recognize
coming down the highway. And they quickly ran the plate and discovered that it belonged to Serafin Hernandez
Garcia. Now, at the time, the Hernandez family was well-known to the police in Matamoros. For decades, they had been
one of the better organized gangs in the region, responsible for a lot of drug trafficking and smuggling.
In more recent years though, the organization had expanded to include several members of the family living
across the border in Brownsville, Texas. So, they were kind of like working dual
sides of the border. Okay. Now, unlike more of the hardcore gangs that had been recently established in the
region, the Hernandez family mostly just ran marijuana back and forth from Texas
to Mexico. So, >> Okay. they the police they'd run into the police a lot, but they weren't like
super dangerous or anything like that. Despite that, they had been successful for many years, due in large part to
their charismatic leader, Saul Hernandez. But, when Saul was killed by machine gun
fire in 1986, the family business started to fall apart. Now, Paul's bro uh Paul's brother, Serafin, tried to
step into his brother's role and keep everything together, but within a month, he was arrested by US officials, which
left their entire operation in disarray. Yeah. Now, without the charisma of their former
leader, the Hernandez business wasn't just in danger of losing money, but they were also in danger of being taken over
by one of the other organizations in the region, because that was happening, too.
They would just walk in and be like, "Well, you're part of us now, and you're going to be paying us everything that
you're making, and that's it." Yeah, deal with it. Like, otherwise, we can just shoot you. Oof. Yeah. So, in order
to fend off any potential takeovers, which would have inevitably ended in the murder of those higher up in the family,
like I just said, >> Yeah. uh what remained of the Hernandez leadership turned to Adolfo Cos-
Constanzo, the Cuban-American leader of the criminal organization that was dubbed Los Narcos Satanicos, the Narco
Satanists. >> Ooh. Yeah. As one of the more feared and dangerous gangs in the region, Adolfo Cos-
Constanzo's group operated less like a criminal syndicate and more like a religious cult. Okay. Yeah. And it was
all orien- uh oriented around Constanzo, who was the known as the Godfather, and his {quote} {unquote} high
priestess, Sara Maria Aldrete Villarreal. I really hope I'm saying these pronunciations correctly. I looked
them up. So, yeah. Okay. >> Interesting. Okay. Now, at first, the deal that was struck between Constanzo
and the remaining Her- Hernandez family members was just for simple protection, but before long, the remaining Hernandez
family members basically were absorbed into the Narco Satanists. >> Okay. So, as soon as they received the report
about Mark Kilroy, who had disappeared in Matamoros, it occurred to investigators that he could have been
kidnapped by one of the local gangs. That was one of the first things on everybody's radar.
>> Absolutely. Publicly, Mexican authorities, quote, tried to claim that that Kilroy must have vanished in
Brownsville, because they were aware that news of another kidnapped tourist was going to hurt the local economy,
which was already hurting. Mhm. But, behind closed doors, more than a few people brought up Adolfo Constanzo and
the Hernandez family. Mhm. And sadly, [clears throat] they knew that if Mark had been kidnapped by
the Narco Satanists, there was very little hope that they would get him back alive, if they ever even got him back at
all. That's worst case scenario. It really is. >> Like truly worst case scenario.
>> To not even get to think that you wouldn't even get his body. You'll just never get him back.
>> Like that's >> Like oh god. >> I can't. So now back to the afternoon of April 1st.
Agent Raul Morales had been stationed at the checkpoint on Highway 2. He'd been an agent in the area for many years and
he was familiar with the various members of all the gangs, especially the Hernandez family.
So when he saw the compact red pickup coming down the highway, he knew right away that he would find little Serafin
behind the wheel. And that was confirmed when they managed to check the plate. And since little
Serafin had blown through the checkpoint without stopping, they also knew that they had ample reason to stop him and
even arrest him if they needed to. But Morales and all the other officers had been through that before. They'd
stop one of the gang members as they came across the border. They'd try to get information. Inevitably the gang
members would stay silent and the whole thing was kind of just a pointless exercise in frustration. Yeah. So
instead, he had a better idea. And uh the way that this all works out, I was like
there's some kind of divine intervention here because the fact that he was like,
"You know what? I'm not going to do that today." >> Yeah. It all worked out. Not in a good
way but it worked. >> Mhm. So rather than hitting the sirens and forcing Hernandez to pull over, he
and his partner jumped in an unmarked Ford Bronco and they followed Serafin at a safe distance hoping that he would
lead them somewhere or give them a lead on whatever it was this family was up to.
>> Mhm. So they ended up following him to the Santa Elena ranch which was by the
way Elena. That's me. Uh it was an old farm about 20 miles outside of Matamoros. Morales and the other
investigators had figured Constanzo's organization had been headquartered somewhere just outside of the city
and later that would be confirmed by a raid um and information that they obtained
from US Customs officials. In the report, Customs agents estimated that there were up to 24 people
smuggling drugs for a drugs for Constanzo, and they were all coming and going at the ranch, but they wrote that
no more than 12 were involved in the kidnappings and the slayings that eventually took place at the ranch.
>> Oh, Jesus. So, at the time, Morales and the other investigators had no proof of
what they suspected was going on between this gang here. Yeah. They had only really just learned about the location
of the ranch when they followed Serafin. >> [sighs] >> So, rather than risk losing valuable
evidence, Morales chose to hang back and stake out the ranch, hoping that they could gather some kind of compelling
evidence to justify a search warrant for the property. This is great detective work.
So, the next day, he returned to the ranch pretending that he was a lost traveler looking for directions back
into town. Wow. >> Which is like brave. I was just going to say that's terrifying.
>> Yeah. So, he spoke with an elderly man who said that he was the caretaker, and
the man did seem to be tending to the animals that day. So, he was like, maybe you are a caretaker.
>> what the [ __ ] The man said his name was Domingo, but he said he didn't know who
owned the ranch. He just showed up every day to do his job, and he didn't ask questions. I mean, hey, I don't blame
him. Yeah. So, Morales could tell the man was lying to him. He was like, I definitely think
he knew more than he was letting on, but he also didn't want to blow his cover, so he didn't push.
Uh also, his job that afternoon was to keep the caretaker busy while his partner poked around the property trying
to stay out of sight. >> this is This is scary. It's like terrifying. >> But a lot of police work happening here.
>> Yeah, and really good police work. >> Yeah. So, as the other agent crept around the property, he spotted what
looked like a brand new Chevy Suburban, which was not exactly the type one would
expect to find on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Probably not. And now, peering into the back of the car, he
could see a layer of uh dark dust covering almost the entire back seat, which he immediately recognized as the
resin dust that shakes off of dried marijuana plants. So, it's like caked on in that car. Okay. And as he started to
turn away from the truck, though, something else caught his eye. On the floor in the back seat of the car
was a gray cement statue of what looked to the agent like some kind of demonic figure. Mhm. Not wanting to raise any
alarms, he just went back to the car and waited for his partner, Morales, who came back a short time later. Okay. Now,
back at the station, the two agents checked in with their supervisor, Commander Juan Benitez, and gave him an
update on what they had all seen at the ranch. Now, Benitez had been raised in the traditional, I hope I say this
correctly, uh Walahokan community. And he was more familiar with folk religions than the other agents were.
Oh, wow. That's good that they had somebody that actually knew [ __ ] >> It [clears throat] really worked out
because we're pulling on a thread here right now. >> Yeah, for sure. So, when Benitez heard
the description of the statue in the back of the car, he immediately recognized it as the statue of Alaguala,
who's a trickster god in Santa Maria. And this god is recognized as the messenger to the supreme creator,
Alawufi. Oh, okay. >> really hope I'm saying all that right. >> [snorts] >> So, Benitez explained that the trickster was
a favorite among the drug traffickers to kind of worship and like ask for protection, especially those who wanted
to curse their enemies. Ooh. According to author Edward Humes, among the legends was the belief that if the
proper offerings were made to Alaguala, he could make you bulletproof and invisible. Woah. So, that being the
case, the promise of those powers would have made some of the greatest criminals
in the world. >> Um yeah, I would say so. And for that, those criminals felt like there was
nothing too valuable to sacrifice. Oh. So, it was obvious that there was drug smuggling going on at the ranch, but
they needed something a little bit more and they because they knew something much worse was going on there.
>> Yeah, this is not looking good right now. So, Benitez himself had overseen the downfall of the Hernandez family in
the last few years. So, he knew that whatever was happening at the farm, they weren't working alone, and they probably
weren't running the show anymore either, which meant that another cartel was involved. And that's a big deal. Yeah.
So, he ordered that the ranch be monitored day and night. And in the meantime, he placed a call to his
contact at the DEA to find out whether they knew anything about the operation at the ranch.
Now, the DEA had also been monitoring the Hernandez family since before they expanded beyond the border. But that
focus became more intense when the family expanded into Brownsville, Texas. It was as Benitez had expected.
Something had changed changed in the family's fortunes since the elder leaders had died.
So, for decades, like I said, Hernan the Hernandez family had been trafficking small amounts of marijuana back and
forth, but their operation was not that impressive, especially compared to the newer cartels.
And after the death of Saul and the failure of his brother, it was expected that they would kind of just be on their
way out. But that was hardly what the DEA had seen. Edward Humes wrote, "The Hernandez boys
were living in a fine home, driving a fleet of brand new trucks, and walking the streets like swaggering feudal
lords." Woah. Yeah. What a description. Exactly. And they said, "Obviously, that
kind of money and confidence didn't come from selling small amounts of weed or even cocaine at that point to tourists."
Yeah. There was something a lot bigger going on here. So, the agent pretty much confirmed what
Benitez already knew. The remaining Hernandez family must have hooked up with a more powerful cartel.
But he mentioned one more thing that Benitez didn't know. According to the DEA agent, there had
been rumors circulating lately about the Hernandez boys talking about how they had all the protection they needed, and
that they had bought off the local cops. All of which they attributed to, quote,
"Some weird religion that made them invincible. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So it was the comment
about the religion that started to bring everything into focus for all of these agents here. The statue of the trickster
god that Morales's partner had found in the back of the Suburban, the fact that little Serafin had just blown through
the police checkpoint without the slightest hesitation, and the fact that he didn't even seem to think about being
followed when he led them directly to the ranch, like that wasn't on his radar. >> Yeah. It all started to make sense. Now
little Serafin had never been the brightest member of the family, but even he wasn't so stupid as to openly defy
the police that brazenly, unless he thought he was untouchable and protected. >> Oh. Yeah.
>> what I'm saying? >> that makes so much sense. Yeah. Damn. And that means they're making the
ultimate sacrifice in their mind >> Yeah. >> god. Yep. So by the morning of April
8th, 1989, Commander Benitez had gathered enough information from his agents and from all his other sources to
confirm pretty much every suspicion he had. Now fortunately for him and the other agents, whatever religious beliefs
that the family had and their connections had, it had made them confident to the point of carelessness.
Mhm. After getting a warrant for a wiretap a few days earlier, agents started listening in on the phone calls
that were coming and going out of the ranch, during which one of the Herrera-Hernandez boys and their
contacts didn't even bother to use code names or obscure the subject of their conversation at all. Wow.
>> they were. They're invincible. They're protected. >> Yeah. So they think. That morning,
little Serafin was to receive a very big amount of marijuana at the ranch, and that was exactly the kind of information
that Benitez needed to justify a raid on the compound. >> So before little Serafin hung up the
call, he also said something about El Padrino. Benitez didn't know what or to whom
Serafin was referring because it was the first time he'd heard heard the reference. But for the time being that
had to wait. But that will come back later. Okay. So later that day several agents descended on Serafin's house in
Matamoros where they found him with another known drug dealer, Sergio Martinez. Upon searching the house they didn't
actually find any drugs but they found more than enough evidence of a drug operation. Yeah, something's a foot.
>> Yeah, it was resin dust everywhere. There was guns, there's paraphernalia, there's a lot going on.
So when he was questioned about the large quantity of marijuana that they just received Serafin was silent.
But rather than continue to press him Benitez threw them both in the back of a police car and drove them both out to
the ranch, the bigger ranch. Now after breaking a lock on one of the large set sheds the agents discovered 60
lb of marijuana along with a significant cache of weapons and the Chevy Suburban
that Morales and his partner had seen earlier that week. Whoa. Now back in Matamoros agents watching Serafin's
house managed to grab a few more members of the gang as they arrived including one of the older members, Eleo
Hernandez. Like Serafin and Martinez none of the men really seemed to be too concerned
about having just been arrested. They all kind of presented with like cocky certainty that
Cuz they're divinely protected. >> Cuz they're divinely protected. Exactly. Something's going to happen here.
>> deeply frustrating for the investigators cuz they're >> And must have been the freaky because
it's like oh they genuinely believe Yeah. that this is this this trickster god is protecting them. And what
sacrifice must they have made to him for them to believe that they are so protected here.
>> honestly would be the thing that would send chills down my spine. >> Like they believe that they're
invisible. Not just invincible, invisible. So they had to have felt pretty confident with the sacrifice they
had made. >> Yeah. Their sacrifices. Yeah. Benitez said later they weren't worried at all.
They thought we couldn't hurt them. They thought they were protected." Damn. Now,
although they were pretty profoundly irritated by the confidence, they also knew that they'd eventually got a
confession one way or the other. >> Yeah. So, here's the thing. We've told cases We've
told stories before. There's been cases where officers resort to violence to get
answers. >> we've seen those. >> And that was especially common in this area in the 1980s.
>> I'm sure. There were the more common tactics like we've talked about beatings, threats, but there were also
more extreme tactics. And Dave found one that I said, "Excuse me, what? Hold the
phone." Oh, lord. One of the most effective techniques at this time involved adding large quantities of hot
sauce to soda water. The [ __ ] Which was then shaken up and shot up the suspect's
nostrils. Oh my god. Hot sauce and soda water shoved into your nostrils. All I can think of is the sensation when
you get the bubbles in your nose if you're like drinking it and you're like, "Ooh, that hurts."
>> hot and spicy. >> Add it with hot sauce and have it shot directly into your nose.
>> Yeah. Holy [ __ ] >> Yeah. Edward Humes wrote, as you're thinking about that, he described it. "First
comes a hideous sensation of drowning as the foaming liquid floods breathing passages followed by an indescribable
searing pain as the peppery liquid scores sensitive nasal tissue." Oh my god. Yeah. So, not too shocking, this
one was particularly effective. >> Oh, I yeah. That I'd tell you [ __ ] >> I'd tell you [ __ ] I didn't do, probably.
>> I would make up stuff that you didn't even know about. >> Yep. Oh my god, that hurts. My nose
hurts now. >> can you even? No. So, in this case, it turned out that the hot sauce soda
technique would not be necessary. The rumors of it alone would suffice when it came to Domingo Bustamante, the
caretaker at the ranch. >> He was like, "You know what? I heard that that's a thing and I'm not going to
deal with it." >> they were like, "We could do that." And he was like, "You know what? Let's just
chat." >> Why don't I just tell you what's going on? And remember, he was the one who had
already talked to one of the officers. >> "I don't know nothing about nothing. I
just came and did my job." Precisely. Now, he had been picked up by the feds when he got to work on the morning of
April 9th. And a short time later, he was sitting across from Benitez in the interrogation room. Now, from the moment
they met, Benitez could tell that he wasn't a drug smuggler or some hardened criminal. He was clearly just a man
trying to make enough money to support his family and he had gotten caught up in something much bigger than him.
More importantly, he didn't believe in witchcraft or the trickster gods. So, he didn't have any
of the confidence and the smug cockiness that kept the others from talking. >> He said, "I know I'm not invisible, so."
>> said, "I know you can see me right here, right now." Basically, he would be easy
to break. Just easy to get information out of. So, it turned out that Benitez's assessment of the caretaker was right.
Within just a few minutes of the interrogation, he was telling agents everything he knew.
He confirmed that the ranch was the headquarters of the Hernandez smuggling operation. And then he began
[clears throat] rattling off all the names of the smugglers at the ranch, at least all the ones he knew.
He told them, "People come and go all the time at the ranch. Some are friends of the bosses or workers, but there are
others. They're treated very badly." Oh. He began to say something about an American who he had seen at the ranch
recently. And then he kind of trailed off, almost seeming to realize that he said something he shouldn't have.
>> No, keep talking. So, the other agents and Benitez were aware of the disappearance of Mark Kilroy and several
of them had been involved in the case on the Mexican side, but it wasn't until that moment that they all assumed the
case they were working on was a separate matter entirely. >> Oh, [ __ ] >> thought that and then they were like,
Oh, this is them. This is not. So, it was when the caretaker brought up the American that it occurred to all of the
agents that this case could be related. So, Benitez pressed further. Domingo, the caretaker, hesitated, and
then he started talking about a day a month earlier when he saw a young man tied up in the back of the blue Chevy
Suburban at the ranch. The men at the ranch had left him tied up like that in the truck overnight.
Domingo said, "I felt very sorry for him. I made him something to eat. I brought him some eggs and water for
breakfast, and then the bosses came and took him away." Oh my god. This like makes my stomach
hurt. It's horrific. He estimated that this had occurred two or three weeks earlier, and he said the young man was
white with blonde hair, which matched the description of Mark Kilroy, but that was all he knew, he said.
So, Benitez, thinking quickly, went back to his desk and rummaged through the drawers until he found the glossy black
and white photo of Mark Kilroy that was being used in all the missing posters. He slapped the photo down on the table
in front of Domingo, and Domingo immediately recognized the man in the picture. He told the detectives, "Yes,
that's him, the guero." Ugh. And guero is um is like slang in Mexico talking about like a white blonde person.
>> Oh, man. And that is where we are going to end for part one. >> Holy [ __ ] Yeah. So, I took you what probably felt
like on a hard left, but then we we kind of got back to our original destination.
>> Oh, man. Yeah, part two really sad. >> even sadder. Yeah, I feel so [ __ ] hard for this family and this group of
friends. What they've had to go through. That all just started from a celebratory
time in their lives. >> man. Like, what? Like, Jesus, they weren't even doing anything wrong. No,
they were just >> like they were like getting into trouble, you know what I mean?
>> No, they were just they crossed over the border, they had a fun night, and >> Yeah, like they just didn't
I think they just didn't have the information, you know? Like they were just lacking information. Exactly.
>> Cuz at the time Exactly. I mean, again, remember this is the '80s. It's not now.
No. So, we can't judge it off of now, where you where you know certain things. >> And even judging off of now, how many
millions of kids go on spring break to Mexico still? Yeah, like it's not like this is
you should be able to. And this is like a this is one of those cases that it's like worst case scenario. It is.
>> It really is. It's the cases that you get warned about when you go on spring break. It's awful. Yeah. So, we will be
back with part two, and we will get a lot deeper into this, and it's jarring. So.
Fun fact. Apparently, in Japan, if you're found drunk and violent, police will physically roll you up in a giant
plastic sheet and carry you away like a burrito. That's iconic. >> [laughter] >> They said, "We don't have time for this.
Give me the burrito wrap." >> Burrito him. Like that's So, don't get drunk and violent in Japan. Okay, I
won't. >> I mean, don't get drunk and violent anywhere, but But definitely don't do it
in Japan. >> They'll wrap you up and take you away. >> Yeah, they'll just throw you over their
shoulder. You heard it here first. Maybe not, but you heard it here, that's for sure. Maybe. All right, weirdos. We love
you. We hope you keep listening. And we hope you >> keep it weird. >> But not so weird that you get crazy and
violent in Japan, or in Mexico, or in the US, or anywhere. >> Don't be crazy and violent.
>> Especially anywhere you're unfamiliar. Be [music] careful, everybody. Everywhere.
>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Mhm.

In March 1989, twenty-one-year-old Texas A&M student Mark Kilroy and some friends traveled south of the border to Matamoros, Mexico to celebrate the end of spring break, along with thousands of other American students that year. After drinking all night at a bar on the night of March 10, Kilroy got separated from his friends when they decided to call it a night a little after 2:00 am. No one would see Mark Kilroy alive again.

As one of several towns bordering the United States, Matamoros was popular with American tourists; however, by the late 1980s, it was beginning to develop a reputation for drug-related crime. In fact, Mark Kilroy was just one of sixty people who went missing in Matamoros in just the first three months of 1989 alone. When Kilroy’s friends reported him missing to the Brownsville, Texas police a massive search began, with investigators fearing Mark might have been kidnapped by one of the local gangs. It turned out, the truth was far worse than anyone had feared.

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References

Associated Press. 1989. "Leader in cult slayings ordered own death, two companions say." New York Times, May 8: 14.

Assocoated Press. 1989. "Hypnosis tried in hunt for student." Fot Worth Star-Telegram, March 17: 24.

Bragg, Roy. 1989. "Cult 'godfather' ordered killing." Houston Chronicle, April 13: 1.

—. 1989. "Fateful party is re-enacted." Houston Chronicle, March 25: 1.

Cartwright, Gary. 1989. "The Work of the Devil." Tecas Monthly, June 1.

Douglas, Jack, and Major Garrett. 1989. "13th victim pulled from killing field." Houston Post, April 14: 1.

Garcia, Guy. 1989. "The Believers: Cult Murders in Mexico." Rolling Stone, June 29.

Humes, Edward. 1991. Buried Secrets: A True Story of Serial Murder, Black Magic, and Drug-Running on the U.S. Border. New York, NY: Dutton.

Kreps, Mary Ann. 1989. "Machete blow reportedly killed Kilroy instantly." Houston Chronicle, April 12: 1.

Mishra, Upendra Nath. 1989. "Police search properties owned by alleged cult leader." United Press International, April 20.

Perez-Trevino, Emma. 2009. "Remebering Mark J. Kilroy." Brownsville Herald, March 8: 1.

Sanders, Kathy. 1989. "Rumors of Satanists kidnapping children have parents terrified." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 15: 1.

Schutze, Jim. 2023. Cauldron of Blood: The Matamoros Cult Killings. New York, NY: Open Road Media.

United Press International. 1989. "Parents of missing student seek help from state." United Press International, March 29.

Warren, Susan. 1989. "Kilroys say drug users 'to blame' for son's killing." Houston Chronicle, April 13: 1.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from https://www.purple-planet.com Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: Title: Artist: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Mark Kilroy went missing during spring break in 1989, leading to a complex investigation involving gangs and international law enforcement.

Key points

Mark Kilroy's Spring Break Plans. Mark and his friends plan an exciting spring break trip to South Padre Island for his 21st birthday.
A Night in Matamoros. Mark and his friends venture into Matamoros, Mexico, for a night of bar hopping and fun.
The Last Goodbye. As the night ends, Mark is seen talking to a girl outside the bar, but the group separates.
The Disappearance of Mark Kilroy. Mark goes missing during spring break, leading to a frantic search by friends and family.
Community Support. The Kilroy family receives help from local communities in their search for Mark.
America's Most Wanted Steps In. The case is featured on America's Most Wanted, leading to unexpected rumors.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Get into it, man. Get into it, yeah.

Encouraging listeners to read a book.

4:58WatchMay 21, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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