Teen Latest Victim In Ciudad Juarez Killings
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Feb 17 (Reuters)
A teenage girl has become the latest victim in a six-year series of rape-murders on the Mexico-Texas border, during which time about 100 women, most of them young factory workers have been found raped and murdered.
The 14-year-old girl, found in a vacant lot strewn with garbage and weeds behind a middle school, was apparently raped and suffocated with a plastic bag on Tuesday morning during daylight hours.
Her death brought the rape-murder toll on the Mexico-Texas border so far this year to six. A 13-year-old girl was killed in a similar fashion recently. Most victims have ranged in age from 17 to 36.
Police suspect the existence of one or more serial killers.
Sully Ponce, a special prosecutor assigned to head the investigation into the slayings, said Wednesday police had no leads or clues in the most recent death.
"We call on citizens to help us with any information they have," Ponce said. "Even if the information appears simple, it could be helpful, anything on a vehicle or did they hear screams."
A special unit from the FBI is scheduled to come to Juarez next month to help create a profile of the alleged killer or killers.
Copyright 1999 Reuters