Speaker 1 00:00
just listening to my friend John Henry’s new podcast, Kitchen. There’s one moment where John says something. So we’ll talk about honey in the middle of the episode. He goes, man, I love honey so much, I would suck a bee’s dick.
Speaker 1 00:09
Do bees have dick? They do not. Definitely not in their dick. I mean, they don’t have honey. I don’t know if they have dicks, but that honey doesn’t come out of a dick.
Speaker 2 00:30
Pack your body bags, we’re going on a Slaycation. These are murders and mysterious deaths that happened on vacation. As always, I’m your co -host, Adam Tex Davis, and I’m joined by my lovely wife, Kim.
Speaker 2 00:45
The woman.
Speaker 3 00:46
Hi. Hi.
Speaker 2 00:48
and my work and my work husband Jerry hi guys hi I just want to say I love our fans I mean you guys the true slake haters who have shown up and found us you are just here for it yeah they are here for they are
Speaker 3 01:07
We love you. People love you. Know that we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 01:10
Yeah. People are literally writing us paragraphs, supporting the show, supporting us, defending us from haters and naysayers. They’re using jokes from the show in their reviews. They’re calling the episodes, and Jerry tolerable.
Speaker 2 01:24
You know, I’m going to give the latest Bachelor reviews five stars.
Speaker 3 01:29
I, too, will give the latest batch five stars.
Speaker 2 01:33
Thank you, and then on top of that, Kim is bridging the gap between knitting and true crime.
Speaker 3 01:40
I am. You’ve knit a bridge. I have. I managed to do it. Shout out to all my knitters and crocheters out there. And? And my yarn horse. My yarn horse out there. Let me hear y ‘all, because…
Speaker 2 01:58
Do you like the pimp of the yarn horse? I, you know, I, I- Yeah, you had like a vo-
Speaker 1 02:02
Oh, you’re the special voice for that. I think I do. The struggle is real. I want to see you in like a Lincoln Continental Yard. I’m like a pimp.
Speaker 2 02:12
coat made of yarn. Yo bitch, you better have my yarn.
Speaker 1 02:16
Where’s my yarn money? Oh my God.
Speaker 3 02:19
Holy shit. Yeah, that’s.
Speaker 2 02:21
But but good times good times, but then there’s some people who just can’t help themselves They can’t just listen and if the show’s not for them Quietly move along just go away. Nope It’s like we’re selling our apartment and they come to the open house and they take a look around and they’re like wow The space is decent, but you know, I don’t like the kitchen bedrooms are a little small doesn’t get enough light,
Speaker 2 02:42
you know It’s not for us. Oh wait, but before we go, I’m just gonna take a big shit right here in the living room So the people know I just want them to know You could just leave not make an offer but this feels better Just every now and then somebody shows up at least if it was like constructive criticism something we could use great In fact, we’ve taken a few instances of constructive criticism to heart.
Speaker 2 03:06
I mean, I think I interrupt Kim 8% less now Or if it’s like, you know, if it’s a warning to others like hey If you don’t like jokes or people having fun, then this show might not be for you But just giving a negative opinion, you know, like it means something is a little weird to me
Speaker 1 03:23
Yeah. Well, the other thing is we are delivering exactly what we promised, like slaycation. First of all, the show’s called Slaycation. If you don’t get from the title that this is a funny approach to true crime, that, you know, you’ve missed something on the label, but we very clear, it’s very clear from the top of any episode that this is going to be a fun-ish romp through true crime.
Speaker 1 03:42
And so I feel like the people who are like, you know, really shitting on the show, it’s like, it’s like going to a restaurant, to fast food restaurant, and you know, that beautiful hamburger that’s advertised on TV, and they serve you the burger that is a fast food restaurant.
Speaker 1 03:53
And it looks exactly like what was in the ad. And you’re like, fuck you. Right.
Speaker 2 03:59
You got you got what you wanted unlike McDonald’s with a picture looks great. The actual burger comes in. It’s a piece of shit, right?
Speaker 1 04:05
Those same people would complain about that like I think these are people that are just not you know by the way Love it. I find there. I find negative reviews. I agree absolutely hilarious like some of the creative ways that they’ve come up with to shit on us There’s some lessons to be learned like truly
Speaker 3 04:25
I mean, we just laugh heartily. It is a great source of hilarious.
Speaker 2 04:30
But I will say we prefer the good reviews Thank you keep them coming you guys are awesome
Speaker 1 04:38
I’m gonna be the the slight voice of I actually love like a really good funny negative review. I think they’re funny
Speaker 2 04:45
Right. So if you want to do that, address it to Jerry. Just email me.
Speaker 1 04:49
at tolerable at syndication.
Speaker 2 04:53
WTF although yeah, there was a great one though recently where it said I could do without the work husband Oh, yeah, that’s why I called you
Speaker 3 05:01
I can’t do without the word.
Speaker 1 05:03
I can’t do without the woman the woman what about the actual yarn or I need my yarn whore. Thank you
Speaker 3 05:11
I love you. And my husband. We love each other. Okay. We do. We do. We love each other.
Speaker 2 05:15
big happy Slaycation family all right so with that in mind kim where will we be slacating today
Speaker 3 05:24
Okay, well, today we begin our slacating journey along the southern coast of Texas to the tropical oasis of South Padre Island with access for an evening jaunt across a bridge to the border into the Mexican state of Tama Lupas to the city of Maramoras, which happens to be the second largest city in that state of Mexico.
Speaker 3 05:53
Now think, it is 1989. No phones right at your fingertips, no internet, no navigation. Got to admit that a college student in the 80s is a different breed. If you had to do research, write a paper or book a fun -filled week of shenanigans and tomfoolery, you had to…
Speaker 3 06:17
I remember the tomfoolery. Yes, remember?
Speaker 2 06:20
Remember, but I’d like to book I’d like to book a week of shenanigans, please My friend Tom will be there
Speaker 3 06:30
But let’s face it, you had to do the work. You did. You had to do the work.
Speaker 1 06:34
did the work you were just gonna be there there’s gonna be a million cameras and uploads you could just go and have fun
Speaker 3 06:40
That’s correct. And in that time, in that period, researching required leaving your house. And most college kids didn’t have a computer, much less the internet. If you were booking a trip, you had to talk to somebody.
Speaker 3 06:55
And if you were driving and you were lost, well, you had to look at a map.
Speaker 1 07:00
Yeah, yeah, right. You couldn’t just pull up a GPS or look on your phone if you got lost, especially in a foreign country, you know, back then, if you got lost. Right. You really didn’t know where you were.
Speaker 2 07:10
Or my mom would be Michael ask someone
Speaker 3 07:15
Right, right. So that’s that too.
Speaker 2 07:18
person with no more someone.
Speaker 3 07:20
or anyone. So it would be a reunion of sorts for these four spring -breaking compadres. Mark Kilroy, a pre -med student at the University of Texas at Austin, Bill Huddleston, and Bradley Moore, an engineering student, both juniors at Texas A &M University, and Brent Martin at Alvin Community College.
Speaker 3 07:42
So the boys, they had remained close, having grown up playing sports, attending elementary or high school together. Both Mark and his buddy, Bradley, had been to South Padre Island prior. And we’re very much looking forward to the time to, as the memorable mantra of a different world, relax, relate, release.
Speaker 3 08:03
Thank you. I don’t know if you had. You guys didn’t watch it differently. Oh, no, I’ve been talking to you.
Speaker 1 08:08
talk about Whitney. Yeah.
Speaker 3 08:10
like yes, Whitley Gilbert. Yes. Yes. So anyway, that was the mantra.
Speaker 1 08:16
Whitney. Yes. Right. Right.
Speaker 3 08:18
I got I haven’t thought of that show in a minute. I know it’s it’s been a while Yeah, it has been said that mark and Bradley had been talking about spring break since the fall Although I don’t know any college kid that isn’t talking about spring break right second school starts, right?
Speaker 1 08:33
These kids were also like serious students. Oh, yeah in particular. He was Read that his uncle was a doctor and really looked up to his uncle and he really wanted to be a doctor So he was pre -med very, you know religious, but very, you know tolerant good kids
Speaker 2 08:48
You know what give me the rundown one more time. I just want to make sure I have it in my head So there’s four college kids right they all go to different schools
Speaker 3 08:55
Two of them go to A &M.
Speaker 2 08:57
Okay, Texas A &M. Right. So you were at University of Texas at Austin. Right. Okay, and then the other one was a, you said community quality. A community, right. Okay.
Speaker 3 09:04
and they all grew up together? Yeah, they all grew up together. They played sports together.
Speaker 1 09:08
And what’s funny is these so mark mark who’s the person we’re gonna be talking more about in this episode he was born in 1968 which sounds like a million years ago, but it’s kind of around when we were all born Yeah, you know like this this and this spring break was happening and in March of 1989, which could have been any of us Yeah, like we were any college at that time Exactly that part of this story.
Speaker 1 09:29
I found really, you know relatable. Okay, so
Speaker 2 09:33
Four kids, they go to South Padre Island in Texas.
Speaker 3 09:36
Yes, okay. So on Friday March 10th 1989 Bradley he had finished his midterms He hopped in his Mustang and his first stop was Austin to pick up his buddy Mark and the duo made their way along the Texas Highway grabbed their friends Brent and Bill and on they went to South Padre Island They happened to hit a heavy fog and so this slowed their trip down Exponentially as they had to really be careful on the highway but spirits were high and The long drive gave them an opportunity to catch up Discuss their summer plans their plans for the upcoming semester and the boys would be going into their senior year and they Began to lament how different next year would be they would likely be Getting ready for graduation and the reality of true adulting were on the horizon Mark who I think by most standards would be considered a hunk of burning love was planning to sit for the MCATs,
Speaker 3 10:37
which is an extremely difficult Admissions test required to get into medical school and this was sort of the last hurrah as they all move on go They’re separate ways following graduation and really the last of their free time together as a friend group
Speaker 2 10:57
So this was going to be maybe potentially their last spring break together? Okay. Yeah, can I go back from one thing? Yeah, what is the standard for hunk of burning love?
Speaker 3 11:07
you know i mean if you’ve seen pictures of this young man he is obviously you have well yes yes okay he’s oh all right he’s like
Speaker 2 11:17
Except good -looking
Speaker 1 11:19
And he’s tall and athletic, you know, blonde hair, blue eyes, the chin.
Speaker 2 11:25
all the sports.
Speaker 3 11:27
No, he was pretty, pretty active.
Speaker 1 11:31
all right so now you know kim’s type right yeah so you must peace never mind
Speaker 3 11:40
So they arrived at South Padre Island mid -morning, March 11th before some checked into their room at the Sheraton South Beach Padre Hotel and Beach Resort. They showered eight and went to have some fun in the sun and luxuriate on the beach and breathe in the sweet tropical air.
Speaker 3 12:02
Okay, yes, I’m enjoying myself right now because that’s a great place to be.
Speaker 1 12:08
Yeah, the cosmos can’t end. This is good. All right. This is good.
Speaker 2 12:12
All right, I like when you’re feeling it, honey.
Speaker 3 12:17
Yeah, actually. Yeah, no. I mean, there was tons to do every spring breaker’s dream come true with beer companies sponsoring an unparalleled amount of wild entertainment. They hosted free concerts, movies, a free call home, much to the delighted parents of these young, hormonally fueled kids with underdeveloped frontal lobes who took advantage of this generous offering.
Speaker 3 12:46
Objection, I believe.
Speaker 2 12:50
Prosecution is projecting.
Speaker 3 12:53
Anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1 12:54
But also just to just to throw in here. So when these kids they were so excited to spend time together They the second year spring break is actually you know It unfolds over a few weeks depending on the the school’s schedules, right?
Speaker 1 13:07
But it kind of concentrates into like a six or seven day period right used to and so these guys were so excited to hang out They went down like the very beginning and they just plan on spending that’s right I just want to point that because it’s an interesting point is like when they got to Mexico The spring break had not entered full swing right so it was still pretty chill like
Speaker 2 13:27
So wait Mexico, South Padre Island is Texas. Yes. Yes, and then it connects Yeah, there’s a bridge to Mexico. So the idea but South Padre Island is a it’s
Speaker 3 13:38
Texas, it’s in the U .S.
Speaker 2 13:40
spring break destination. Yes. Right. It’s a crazy spring break. Oh, yeah. Right.
Speaker 1 13:44
They started in South Padre Island. That’s where they started their first part of spring break. They said this is a…
Speaker 2 13:50
Crazy enough, let’s go to Mexico.
Speaker 1 13:52
That’s not exactly right. I mean basically they were like they heard that there was a lot of fun and spring break partying happening in Matamoros in Mexico Gotcha, they were base camped in South Padre Island Okay, and sorry what I meant to say was spring break had not gotten full swing in South Padre So when they first got there was a little quieter
Speaker 3 14:09
right? It was a little more low key. Right. I mean, at this point, the bigger amount of people, the larger group of spring breakers would not have arrived yet. Okay.
Speaker 1 14:20
And so when they heard that there was lots going on in Matamoros, they were like, all right, let’s go check it out. Because up to that point, they’d been spending the day on the beach, they’re meeting girls, they’re going to miss tan line contest, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 14:32
So they’re ready for a little change of pace. And so they planned a day trip over to Matamoros, which was going to be on March 13, which would be the fourth day after they arrived. And they have a very simple plan.
Speaker 1 14:44
The plan is to have fun. And they’re going to have fun visiting bars and clubs in Matamoros. And then they’re going to head back that night to their hotel, the Chartan, back in South Padre Island. And that is the plan.
Speaker 3 14:58
The quartet had initially connected with a group of young female students from Purdue University who happened to be staying at the Sheraton across the hall from them. And the group hit it off. They partied all night.
Speaker 3 15:11
The next day, the cycle of fun continued. More tanning, more beach action, more soaking up the rays, and more mistinting. Calling home? No.
Speaker 1 15:26
Calling home is like a one -time thing. Oh, OK.
Speaker 3 15:29
I mean, the boys even added a nap to their routine to gear up for the nighttime antics. I like that. Yeah. That’s good kids. Good kids. The alcohol in Maramores, Mexico, was cheap and plentiful. And the drinking age there, although these young men were of drinking age, I believe at that point, was 18.
Speaker 3 15:52
So that was a great reason to cross the border and get your drink on.
Speaker 2 16:00
Yeah. You don’t even need a fake ID like our daughter.
Speaker 3 16:03
Right, right.
Speaker 2 16:06
Which she leaves out for us to find. Yeah. Actually, she asked us to pay for it.
Speaker 3 16:10
Yeah, that that is true. Did she really? Yeah.
Speaker 1 16:13
And how’d that go she got one
Speaker 3 16:16
That’s how God she was gonna find a way. Yeah, she was gonna find a way
Speaker 2 16:20
It’s like don’t make me steal the money from you guys. So they’re in Mexico. Well, yes the Purdue girl
Speaker 3 16:25
It was any and every girl.
Speaker 1 16:27
These guys they’re meeting girls everywhere, right? They like go anywhere. It’s like a bunch of four good -looking guys I know every right you guys stressing how good
Speaker 2 16:36
You are beautiful, you’re very good.
Speaker 3 16:38
I’m looking at him. I love you. You’re crazy. I don’t want you to feel insecure.
Speaker 2 16:42
One star.
Speaker 3 16:44
Two stars. Yet another evening of fun and shenanigans started for the boys at the Sonic Drive -In, at Port Isabel to grab some eats. Sonic Drive -In.
Speaker 1 16:55
This is on the way to Mexico. Yes, that is correct.
Speaker 2 16:58
Is this the first time they’re going through that? Oh, so they’ve gone back and forth now a couple of times.
Speaker 3 17:02
Yeah. Alright, just make sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2 17:04
Right, so just a couple of nights later. They’re going back to Mexico. They stop at Sonic
Speaker 3 17:08
And they met up with some co -eds from the University of Kansas who had the same plan in mind. And following their meal, they got into their vehicles and the girls tailing the boys to the Texas Mexican border of Brownsville.
Speaker 3 17:23
Once they got there, they parked and made their way over the Gateway International Bridge into the city of, say it with me, Metamoras. Metamoras. Very good boys. So the group continued the folly and festivities with some laughs and drank at a watering hole called Sargent Pepper.
Speaker 3 17:44
It’s literally a hole.
Speaker 2 17:46
It literally is
Speaker 3 17:49
The next day started the same in true groundhog day fashion. The boys got up, got ready to do it all again. The day started with another glorious day of sunning at the beach, a bevy of bikini beauties, and the daily occurrence of the Miss Tanline contest.
Speaker 3 18:09
And more parties. One at a condo being hosted by some of Mark’s old frat brothers. Mark had pledged Lammachia Alpha when he attended Tarleton State University on a basketball scholarship before transferring to University of Texas at Austin.
Speaker 2 18:30
So he transferred from one school. Yeah, but he was in a fraternity and then some of the old frat brothers are having a condo party You said yeah
Speaker 3 18:38
having a party at their.
Speaker 1 18:39
It was either a condo party or a conga party. We’re not sure. The research wasn’t clear.
Speaker 3 18:44
Right, yeah, you just never know with these things.
Speaker 1 18:48
Or is it calling a party in a condo? Right.
Speaker 2 18:50
condom party. Maybe that’s what it was. In the Congo.
Speaker 3 18:54
So, later that evening, March 13th, into the 14th, the boys were back in Metamores. And now, it was an absolute madhouse.
Speaker 1 19:10
right now it’s later in the week so spring break has now gone from like it is in full swing like tens of thousands of kids packed in this town
Speaker 3 19:19
Exactly. It was estimated about 15 ,000 spring breakers.
Speaker 2 19:24
that one Mustang.
Speaker 1 19:26
And also in the sonic
Speaker 2 19:30
It’s packed, so it’s crazy, it’s crazy. Right, right.
Speaker 3 19:33
You had about 15 ,000 spring breakers making the rounds at various nightclubs and bars on the main tourist strip. And the boys decided on Los Sombreros, while not your average college watering hole. It did have the shortest line, and they decided to make that the first stop to get their drink on.
Speaker 3 19:54
Short line, red flag. And after throwing back a few, Mark, Brad, Brent and Bill went all in on the cray, and their next stop was a spot called the London Pub, which would rebrand itself as the Hard Rock Cafe.
Speaker 3 20:11
For spring break week.
Speaker 1 20:13
Right. They changed the name to Hard Rock. That’s so weird. But I think also at the time in the late 80s, the Hard Rock Cafe was like a big deal. Like, I remember everyone had to get the T -shirts. And so maybe they were thinking it would appeal to these American kids.
Speaker 1 20:26
Yeah. More than London. Right. Both are weird. Yeah. But anyways, they went in the London pub now called the Hard Rock Cafe for a few days. OK.
Speaker 3 20:39
Right. And they drank and had a great time. And of course, it was drunken and rowdy and drunken chaos and sued with the boys ducking beer cans being thrown all around. Were you there? Maybe.
Speaker 2 20:55
I mean you could have been. I could have been. I did find a missed hand line award in the closet one time.
Speaker 1 21:01
Remember the t -shirt that said the London pub, but it was crossed out and Hard Rock Cafe was written in Sharpie. Oh my god, that’s hilarious. Hi, my name is Kim.
Speaker 3 21:11
That is hilarious. Oh, you’re a waiter.
Speaker 2 21:15
All right, so it’s crazy time at the Hard Rock Cafe
Speaker 3 21:19
crazy time and it was starting to wind down, at least for our four college students.
Speaker 1 21:25
because also they remember they had to drive back. I was going to say, yeah. To South Padre Island. Oh, yeah. They had…
Speaker 3 21:30
to drive back.
Speaker 1 21:31
And I don’t know what the situation was with drinking and driving, but somebody had to drive back from Mexico back to the U .S.
Speaker 3 21:38
navigate their way through the crowd. And the flog. And the flog. Well, I think the flog had lifted.
Speaker 2 21:46
Okay, do you have any idea what time this is? It’s like about 2 a .m. 2 to 2 30 and yeah Okay, so now they’re headed back to Sam South Padre Island. They’re headed back. Well, they’re
Speaker 1 21:57
headed back to their car right there so they’re navigating the streets in this Mexican town Matamoros right right late at night heading to their car right right and you know lots of people weave in and out of and really
Speaker 3 22:11
about various states of drunkenness. Okay.
Speaker 1 22:15
And at one point, Mark and his friend Bill are talking. Bill says, I’ll be right back. I gotta go pee, and he goes behind a tree to pee, and comes back, and Mark is not there.
Speaker 3 22:27
I mean, it was like he just vanished. I think they looked up. They saw him talking to someone. There were some reports that said he was talking to a woman. Another report said he was talking to a guy.
Speaker 1 22:41
Yep. I saw both of those, but they basically saw him there. Bill walked away for a second. He comes back and Mark’s gone.
Speaker 2 22:47
Mark’s gone the other two are still there. Yeah, and they and they
Speaker 1 22:50
And the other two were a little bit, standing a little bit away from Mark and Bill, when Bill had gone to pee. Okay. So they didn’t see what happened to Mark. So the assumption was, oh, Mark must have just walked ahead to the car.
Speaker 3 23:01
right right and maybe got a ride with somebody although it was very who had the car
Speaker 1 23:07
I don’t know I don’t know who had the keys. I know the guys said their initial thought was that Mark probably just walked ahead to the car and was waiting for them right to drive back to South Padre Island, right then When they got to the car and he wasn’t there Mark was not at the car.
Speaker 1 23:24
Yeah, they then assumed like Kim said like oh, he maybe he got a ride with somebody But that also didn’t seem that seemed very out of character for him There’s no way to reach him because you know no cell phones, right?
Speaker 3 23:36
Exactly no text matches like I’m right here right by the XY and Z
Speaker 1 23:41
very and it’s very out of character for him to just like that like go off like that and so so they started searching around for him right just to get like
Speaker 3 23:51
the cursory like hey maybe he went off to urinate maybe he’s saying goodbye to somebody or getting a phone number whatever
Speaker 1 24:01
after a while they don’t find them and so they actually go to the police and they report him missing the thing is and this is true whether in Mexico or the United States on spring break right kids just right the assumption is oh he’s with the girl right I mean in found some other people party with
Speaker 3 24:20
were not alarmed at all. They really were not. And they were just more like, you know what, relax. I’m sure he’s somewhere sleeping it off. He’s gonna wake up not remembered what happened and he’ll be back.
Speaker 2 24:33
Right.
Speaker 1 24:33
He unfortunately does not come back. He’s not in at the South Padre Hotel where
Speaker 2 24:41
thing so they get back they they one of them has the keys they drive right back to the without him oh that’s gotta be terrifying yeah
Speaker 1 24:49
Yeah, right and they don’t know really what to do because you know, it’s a it’s a foreign country
Speaker 3 24:54
Right. Right. And that was the last they saw him was in a foreign country.
Speaker 2 25:02
And that’s it. All right. Well, thank you. For joining us.
Speaker 1 25:10
So, the situation obviously starts to escalate after a day goes by.
Speaker 3 25:17
that they’re going to go home and just sleep off the alcohol, get it out of their system, and just hope and pray that things resolve. Maybe he met a girl. Exactly. Maybe he drank a little too much and just took leave of his senses, which could happen.
Speaker 2 25:39
happening to you right now okay you got the friends they’re kind of freaked out mark is missing they’re back at the hotel they’re gonna sleep it off I guess right and then resume the search all right excited to hear what happens next although I’m terrified but we’ll be right back after this quick break and a word from our sponsor
Speaker 4 26:02
The Hargan women seemed to have it all. From the outside looking in, we were blessed. My mom was amazing. But as detectives would soon learn, there was a lot going on inside the Hargan household. Ashley and I have been calling my mom in the house in Helen.
Speaker 4 26:18
No one’s answering. 63 -year -old Pamela Hargan gunned down in her own home. Her youngest daughter, Helen, lay dead upstairs.
Speaker 3 26:26
Patrol, when they arrived, assumed or thought that there might have been a murder suit.
Speaker 1 26:31
aside.
Speaker 4 26:31
But for the detectives on the scene… There were things about the scene itself that were concerning to us on day one. Who would want to kill their mother and their little sister? There is no boogeyman here.
Speaker 4 26:43
It is exactly who we think it is. I’m Peter Van Sant from 48 Hours. This is Blood is Thicker, The Hargen Family Killings. Listen to Blood is Thicker, The Hargen Family Killings, wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 27:04
Okay, and we’re back. Tim, now what happens?
Speaker 3 27:06
So they had gone back. They decided, let’s just head back to the hotel, get some sleep, regroup, start again. And they went back and about two o ‘clock in the afternoon they woke up and realized Mark hadn’t returned and they had hoped that maybe he would come stumbling in at some point during the night, but that hadn’t happened.
Speaker 3 27:30
And now they realize shit just got real. And they’re going to have to really now take this time and do a serious search for him.
Speaker 1 27:42
And they also at this point they notify the Texas police right that he’s missing You know even the cops in Texas initially are like well It’s kind of say the same thing as the cops in Mexico Which is kids get reported missing all the time during spring break and like they always Show up a day or two later hungover.
Speaker 1 27:59
They drank too much. So there’s a there’s also sort of a slowness Initially on the US side
Speaker 3 28:06
There’s no sense of urgency, it’s like…
Speaker 2 28:08
break people are doing crazy stuff was there ever worry or concern that maybe mark did something stupid in Mexico got picked up and was in jail
Speaker 3 28:16
Well, you know, of course, I think when somebody is missing in anything and everything goes through your head
Speaker 2 28:21
trees. If Mark goes and pee somewhere, a cop comes along and says, right, exactly.
Speaker 3 28:25
And they did their due diligence because they did reach out to hospitals and jails just to see if maybe that had happened.
Speaker 1 28:37
Right. One of the things that helped this case actually get a little momentum is that one of Mark’s uncles, his uncle Ken Kilroy, weren’t for the U .S. Customs Service in Los Angeles. You know, the U .S.
Speaker 1 28:46
Customs Service has access to lots of searchability and contact with the Mexican government. Right, right.
Speaker 3 28:54
That’s when it really started to take off because initially when the boys went on their own to look around right and they went to Mexico and notified the police and Realized that they still weren’t any closer to getting the answers of what happened or where Mark went They had to notify his parents.
Speaker 3 29:15
I was gonna say how did we yeah, which had to?
Speaker 1 29:19
Sucks, so bad right yeah, also the police in metamoros so remember metamoros is like a border town So it’s a torus town sure as we talked about on other cases on this show the last thing torus towns Want is a reputation as places where people disappear, so they said these guys are lying.
Speaker 1 29:35
Oh He didn’t disappear here. He right disappeared in Brownsville, Texas Yeah, so the so the met him so the Mexicans immediately try and just completely not only not investigate but literally Shift the the disappearance real off of their off of their territory now meanwhile I will mention that in the first three months of 1989 the year this happened 60 people had been reported missing in metamoros so and this is a time if you remember there was like the you know War on drug stuff and lots of stuff going on So this is these border towns are known as places where there is drug related violence and cartel violence,
Speaker 1 30:14
but that’s usually limited to the people involved in those right and
Speaker 3 30:19
was considered a safe spring break town.
Speaker 2 30:22
Right, yeah.
Speaker 1 30:23
And like this violence, you know as bad as it is is usually not affecting random American kids So that’s just to give some context
Speaker 2 30:32
That Mexico was like trying to not they just wanted nothing to do with it So then brand right the hard rock cafe crossed out the name and just became Planet, Hollywood
Speaker 1 30:43
And that is how Planet Hollywood is born. But then once the parents are notified and Mark’s uncle Ken Kilroy from the US Customs Service gets involved, things shift into a very different gear. It started to pick up the pace.
Speaker 1 30:56
Now a task force is created in Brownsville to search for him. The federal police in Mexico are also brought in. We’re no longer dealing with local Matamoros police. Now it’s the federales from Mexico.
Speaker 1 31:08
And they’re working with the US Customs Service to try and find this kid. At this point, too, I just want to mention before you get back to the story stuff, once the US Customs Service got involved and the Mexican officials and they sort of started thinking about what happened here, they pretty quickly jumped to foul play.
Speaker 1 31:25
They’re no longer, no one’s thinking anymore. Mark got drunk, is gonna show up or whatever.
Speaker 3 31:30
It’s understood at this point that’s something.
Speaker 2 31:32
that caused that thinking.
Speaker 1 31:35
Just the history of this area. They thought maybe he got inadvertently caught up in some drug -related violence or Potentially there was a robbery someone tried to rob him and it went wrong. That’s their initial thought is like a pretty Cut and dried.
Speaker 1 31:50
I mean terrible horrible tragic, but a fairly cut and dried situation like a wrong place wrong time
Speaker 2 31:56
kind of thing. It is weird though, because he was with his friends, right? He was.
Speaker 1 31:59
And he vanished literally in a matter of moments.
Speaker 3 32:04
I mean, it was it was moments. I mean one of them recalled just looking up and seeing him and I think it was Maybe Just right before he I think one of them had gone to relieve himself as Jerry had stated and then He was gone.
Speaker 3 32:23
It was like he fell off the face of the earth
Speaker 2 32:26
Did you start to say something earlier like somebody saw him talking to somebody yeah, yeah who saw him and what was that about?
Speaker 1 32:33
One of his buddies saw him talking to someone, and in fact, when all of the federal police get involved from both sides, the first thing they do is they check all of the jails and hospitals. Right. That’s obviously first thing.
Speaker 1 32:44
Don’t, he’s not there. They then have the kids retrace their steps. Yes. Okay. But then they actually hypnotize
Speaker 3 32:53
During that time, that was a relatively common practice and a tool used by law enforcement to use hypnosis to see if they could trigger any memories. They don’t do that now.
Speaker 1 33:08
But his friend Brad, who saw him right before he disappeared, they hypnotized him. And then they ate an onion and thought it was an apple. No, that was Brain Child. Great show on Netflix, by the way.
Speaker 1 33:21
They hypnotized him and he says, I saw a man walk up to Mark and say, don’t I know you from somewhere? Right, that’s right. And the man was wearing a blue plaid shirt with a scar on his face. And so they actually- Picked up on something.
Speaker 1 33:34
Questionable whether the hypnosis stuff is real or not, but this is very specific. Movie bad guy too. Yeah, because they have this information from the hypnosis, and because none of their friends can say exactly when he disappeared, the police assume that he was kidnapped, robbed, potentially robbed, and then kidnapped for ransom.
Speaker 1 33:53
But because there’s been no ransom call, then they jump to, he’s probably deceased. Jesus. Right, is the next guess. So they search everywhere, everywhere. I mean, Rio Grande, you know, again, during this time in the Mexican border, there was places where bodies got dumped.
Speaker 1 34:15
There was just places where this just happened all the time. So they start searching all of those and they don’t find them. So now his parents are involved. They come down. They come down.
Speaker 3 34:25
He was in Texas. He lived in Texas. Yes. OK. Yes. And they’re speaking to the media and they put up a reward. And out like.
Speaker 1 34:34
I think like 15 or 20 ,000 flyers with his face on it. They speak to all, like everybody. They speak to the governors, everybody. The problem also with the Mexican authorities at this time is that there’s a lot of corruption.
Speaker 1 34:48
The cartels, in order to operate, had actually infiltrated all of the state and local police, also probably the federal. But definitely the state and local. And so you couldn’t really trust anything they were saying, because their job was more to protect the cartels.
Speaker 1 35:07
So they’re running up against that issue.
Speaker 3 35:08
Corruption was a thing.
Speaker 2 35:11
Hmm well glad it’s all cleaned up now
Speaker 1 35:19
So this all happened, was it March?
Speaker 3 35:22
March 14th was when it all jumped off. Right.
Speaker 2 35:26
So now where are we? We’re a couple of weeks later? So it’s been a couple, yeah, so there was like-
Speaker 1 35:29
Like the few days after where the search ramps up, now the parents are involved, they’re doing everything they can to find their son. And it’s just, they’re also incredible. Like the way they approach this is with just such, almost setting aside their emotions and just focusing.
Speaker 1 35:42
Like when you look at the footage of them, they’re just like- I mean, they’re so composed. Very composed.
Speaker 3 35:47
so put together and it was pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 35:50
mean our daughter just got back from spring break a couple of weeks ago I’m already like I’m about to throw up you know this is like the worst nightmare but also
Speaker 1 36:00
Like it is, but it doesn’t happen that often. Like I just want to say like, this is a very rare, like even for Mexico at that time, like Americans are not just randomly disappearing all the time.
Speaker 3 36:12
Exactly. I mean, this really was a bizarre, extenuating set of circumstances. It really was.
Speaker 1 36:20
better now no but unfortunately this the nightmare gets a lot worse yes yes but but also when you hear when you start to hear more of what’s happening here you’ll understand how rare and truly bizarre this this this whole thing is gotcha all right
Speaker 3 36:36
So, the break in the case, it was rather strange. Essentially, it came as the result of somebody just blowing past a checkpoint.
Speaker 2 36:46
in Mexico.
Speaker 3 36:47
in Mexico.
Speaker 2 36:48
to come into the U .S. or…
Speaker 3 36:50
It was a checkpoint that was set up by authorities. Oh, like a cartel?
Speaker 2 36:55
type checkpoint or?
Speaker 1 36:56
It was just a drug checkpoint, like they’re looking for drugs coming in and out of Mexico. And it’s on the Mexican side, so you’re supposed to stop, you’re supposed to check your car, and this car just blew right there.
Speaker 3 37:11
And then.
Speaker 2 37:11
what it looks suspicious. Right.
Speaker 3 37:13
Hahahaha
Speaker 1 37:14
And the police made a really interesting and smart choice, right? Because what would happen if you were to drive your car through a just a roadblock? What would happen? To my car to you or in general like Chase well, yeah, right
Speaker 3 37:33
The cops would come at you, but what was interesting is they kind of went undercover.
Speaker 1 37:38
Yeah, they were like, don’t put on your sirens. Right. And just was like, you know what? They were just like, just casually following. Let him think he got away. Let’s see, let’s see. Yeah, it was like really good police instinct.
Speaker 1 37:48
Was like, let’s just- Very Darth Vader.
Speaker 3 37:52
I was like, let’s see where this motherfucker’s going.
Speaker 1 37:55
So they followed it. They followed the car and they end up at this this ranch a little bit outside of Matamoros called the Santa Elena. Yeah Santa Elena ranch. You’re so much better at the accent.
Speaker 2 38:10
again it was really nice. Kim gets confused as Puerto Rican so often that she learns Spanish. She’s just decided to embrace.
Speaker 1 38:17
Might as well just learn Spanish this is I want to tell this perks I think this is one of the most interesting things I’ve ever heard in a case yes, right so the cops follow him to this Ranch right they kind of apprehend the guy his name is Sarah Serafin her name
Speaker 3 38:32
She has to say all the way.
Speaker 1 38:33
words like that from now on they’re like okay we got this guy and we’re on this ranch and they start looking around and they right away they find a ton of weed I mean I don’t remember how yeah it’s like multiple kilograms of never wanna right which is this is the ranch
Speaker 2 38:53
daughter’s dorm room.
Speaker 1 38:56
So they find 30 kilos of marijuana. The lead investigator, Juan Benitez Ayala, they find this shack that, and I’ve looked at pictures of the shack. It just looks like a shack. It does. Just looks like a shack.
Speaker 1 39:07
Very unremarkable. But the second this guy sees the shack, he’s like, uh -oh, and this cop gets to the shack and he goes inside and there’s just like melted candles, cigar butts, empty bottles, and a couple of greasy cauldrons.
Speaker 1 39:22
Yeah. Okay. And so you’re like, okay, weird shit, but whatever. Like Satan. The Mexican cops are like, stop everything. Everyone fucking stop. They were not playing. They were like, no, stop what you’re doing.
Speaker 3 39:36
and much to the horror.
Speaker 2 39:40
Of me? What’s going on?
Speaker 1 39:43
And there was and they had American cops with them. So you got all these Americans there Okay, you got the Mexican investigators right Mexican cops the federales They see the shack and the and they’re like stop stop stop right and the American cops are like stop for what?
Speaker 1 39:57
It’s a frickin shack with some pots and they’re like, no, no, no, no This is a devil’s temple. This is a place of black magic, right? And they’re not playing with they’re like we cannot do anything until we neutralize the black magic That’s what the police say, right?
Speaker 2 40:14
So they bring in Ozzy Osbourne, and they play Flex Sabbath music.
Speaker 1 40:22
And then the Americans are like, come on, we’ve got a search and they’re like, you cannot. You literally have to stop. This is a place of the devil. So they have to bring in Coronado, which is a shaman who has to neutralize the black magic.
Speaker 1 40:39
So this is the world you’re in, just to start to set the stage here. You’re in the world where the cops will stop an investigation because they recognize that there is a black magic temple. They cannot continue their investigation until they neutralize the black magic.
Speaker 2 40:57
Okay, so they should have brought in Carlos Santana That would with blood of magic So okay, so they bring in the Coronado. I can’t believe the Americans like went for this Well, remember you’re in Mexico in Mexico.
Speaker 2 41:10
They have to kind of have to play by the rules They must have been just like
Speaker 3 41:15
Oh, sure, I’m sure I’m sure although to be honest Oh, I would imagine they were like, oh wow. We don’t know about this
Speaker 1 41:27
Yes, because cops are always so insightful when they don’t understand something. The first ones to stop and say, well, before I continue with my investigation, please educate me about your world and culture.
Speaker 1 41:42
Good boy. I think you’ve met some different police.
Speaker 3 41:46
I guess.
Speaker 2 41:48
I thought you were going to say like to, you know, stop because this room is rigged to blow up or something, those cauldrons are, you know. Black magic, baby. Black magic. Black magic.
Speaker 1 41:55
So they call him the Coronado and he comes and what does the Coronado do? He performs his thing and he casts out the demons and he declares that the magic has been neutralized Is it like?
Speaker 2 42:05
Poltergeist this place is this house is clean
Speaker 1 42:09
Which I do every time we finish cleaning our apartment, I do like to say that to her. I’m like, this house is clean. But she was wrong. She was wrong. She was so wrong. And then they immediately show the investigation.
Speaker 1 42:22
Who pays for that, by the way?
Speaker 3 42:26
that’s an excellent question but i who do i send my invoice to i would imagine that funds are allocated the purchase order
Speaker 1 42:39
It’s like, is anybody going to cover this? And everybody, the Mexicans are pointing at the U .S. cops. The U .S. Congress, part of the bill for improving policing is like demon gearing or whatever. Exactly.
Speaker 1 42:53
Black. Oh, my God. Exorcism. So they exorcise the demons. And the investigation resumes. And things take a turn for the, I guess, good for the investigation, but bad for Mark. Oh, no.
Speaker 3 43:07
I mean, they take Sarafin in. Yeah, the guy who ran the…
Speaker 1 43:13
Oh, and the interesting thing is that Serafin said something interesting which starts to become part of a theme is he actually drove through the He drove through the blockade because he thought he was invisible That’s correct.
Speaker 1 43:27
Oh, yeah, he thought he was invisible. He didn’t believe that the cops could see him or his car
Speaker 3 43:33
And he didn’t believe that the police could do anything to him.
Speaker 1 43:37
He thought he was literally invisible and invincible cuz the black magic. Mm -hmm head
Speaker 2 43:41
made him mm -hmm ding ding ding mm -hmm interesting yeah
Speaker 1 43:45
so They show a picture of mark to a caretaker at the ranch the Santa Elena ranch and the guy’s like Oh, yeah, that guy was here He was handcuffed in the back of a suburban Jeep. I saw him right
Speaker 3 44:01
and he fed him, the caretaker. The caretaker brought him. Someone was alive there for a while. Yes, he was there and held there. Oh, no, it was just, like,
Speaker 2 44:10
sacrifice shit
Speaker 1 44:11
So then they have they have Seraphine they have this guy Elio and two other people at the ranch who Elio Elio
Speaker 3 44:19
Yeah, Elio Elio is like the head honcho of the ranch, right?
Speaker 1 44:24
the ranch, but more than just the ranch, turns out. Oh, yeah. Right, so they realize, because there’s all these drugs there, it’s like part of a drug ring, right? Right, it’s a huge drug ring.
Speaker 3 44:35
drug ring and iliocetafine, they are a part of a huge drug family.
Speaker 1 44:41
Right and Elio is the head of this area, right? This is a cartel or this is okay Yeah, right. Yeah, and so they start interrogating these guys at the jail in Matamoros and they pretty quickly confessed to Kidnapping mark and they confessed to witnessing his ritual sacrifice the boy Serafin actually tells the investigators that he actually buried the guy.
Speaker 1 45:05
Okay, the American Roy. Yeah and Leads him to the grave the
Speaker 3 45:12
Police pretty much demand that he take them to where Mark was buried and essentially hand him a shovel and tell him to start digging. Right, right.
Speaker 1 45:25
Now one thing to note, that’s pretty gruesome. So I’m warning anyone listening. This is pretty horrible. Where they show him, so fucked up. They show him where the grave is. They see a wire sticking out of the ground.
Speaker 1 45:43
Right. And they’re like, what’s with the wire? Now remember, at this point we know that there’s black magic. We know that there’s been a ritual sacrifice. We know these people think they’re invisible.
Speaker 1 45:53
Right. So when they ask him why is there a wire sticking out of the ground, they explain that the wire, other end of the wire is attached to Mark Kilroy’s spinal column. So that when his body decomposes, they can pull his vertebrae out to turn it into a necklace.
Speaker 3 46:09
Oh!
Speaker 2 46:09
So I didn’t know that’s how you made necklaces. It is. You’ve never been on Etsy Do they have to bring back the fucking shaman?
Speaker 1 46:18
Well, eventually, later in the story. But at this point, they’re just like, this is the level of sick, crazy. Is it just trying to put the pieces of the puzzle?
Speaker 3 46:26
Right, right.
Speaker 1 46:27
So then they force serif in to continue point to dig and they be dig
Speaker 3 46:34
And and at one point he comments. I don’t know why they’re making such a big deal who comments He doesn’t understand why they’re making such a big deal over this kid. There’s others he says
Speaker 1 46:49
He tells just a sidebar for a second. It’s an interesting point because what he’s actually saying is he’s making a Really interesting point right which is Mark Hill Roy disappeared and it became an international incident Exactly involving multiple countries police forces Federal points right and every authority converge everyone right Meanwhile what he’s saying is lots of people have disappeared in this area Mexican people and nobody ever batted an eye right and it turns out to be true like eventually they You know when they start having him dig up they start finding kids You know 13 year old a 13 year old kid who just who mother had reported him missing nobody had a big investigation
Speaker 3 47:35
And it turned out that that was actually a cousin of theirs, because when the order was sent to get somebody, they had covered his head, kidnapped him, and then immediately slaughtered him. And when they took the bag off, they realized, oh shit.
Speaker 1 47:53
Killer cool cousin yeah So so they dig up Mark Hill Roy’s body, and they also find that his legs have been amputated and that
Speaker 3 48:02
And that’s just for the sake of ease.
Speaker 1 48:05
They say his legs have been amputated above the knees and they ask Sarafin, you know Was this part of the sacrifice and he goes no it was actually just easier to bury him that way right so there’s these people are just a level of Sick and twisted that the American Authority and practice.
Speaker 1 48:20
Yeah eventually they Uncover 12 bodies just in this area. That’s right right around him. So they’ve got at least 12 people who’ve been sacrificed
Speaker 3 48:29
They note, too, that Mark’s brain had been removed, his heart, his lungs, and don’t even have to say it. Jesus, take the wheel. Don’t even say it.
Speaker 1 48:39
I was trying to throw lungs in so you’d have to say testicles.
Speaker 2 48:44
Oh, that was kidding. Yeah. Yeah, horrible. So they
Speaker 1 48:47
Actually realized like the cauldrons that they noticed are actually filled filled with all those bones blood
Speaker 2 48:53
Parts you know well they’re like Ted Nugent to use every part
Speaker 1 49:03
so fuck me yeah so it’s just the worst right this is just the absolute
Speaker 2 49:09
thing please tell me they just killed him quickly and no no you can’t tell me
Speaker 3 49:15
Part of the ritual involves torture, and it’s a religion called Palomayombe, which is an Afro -Caribbean religion that you could say was the following of this group.
Speaker 1 49:32
Serafin and Ilio eventually reveal that there’s a guy named Adolpho Constazzo, who is the leader of their cult, right?
Speaker 3 49:42
He’s known as El Padrino, the godfather.
Speaker 2 49:46
He, Kim, don’t piss these people off too, it’s bad enough the Christians are mad at us. I don’t need these, uh, these guys. Yeah.
Speaker 1 49:56
So, the whole idea with this sacrifice is that you’re actually taking on the soul of the person that you’re sacrificing. The reason they reveal that Mark Kilroy was nabbed was that like a week or so before they had done a sacrifice with a local competitor drug lord, not a drug lord, but a drug, someone from one of these other cartels.
Speaker 3 50:19
adversary in the guy.
Speaker 1 50:21
And they started torturing him and doing all this stuff and he was like not a word. He just was stoic He wouldn’t scream. They’re like scream screen. He wouldn’t do anything That’s the thing that releases the soul in their mind, right?
Speaker 1 50:36
So then they’re like we need an easy It’s like Monsters Inc. They had sent these guys to montamoros and said go find a gringo a gringo
Speaker 3 50:45
Because they’ll find a college kid someone smart. That was the whole idea. Yeah So I’m getting a college kid a brain. They wanted the brain
Speaker 1 50:57
They wanted all of this so they go and they get him and they bring him back and yeah, unfortunately like it was not a merciful Killing it was torture. There was sexual assault Alright well
Speaker 2 51:10
I’m not going to say anything else for the rest of the show. I’m just going to sit here in a puddle of… Yeah, that’s horrible. Oh my god.
Speaker 1 51:19
Now the issue is okay, so they solved you know as much as you want to call it that they figured out what happened to Mark Right
Speaker 3 51:25
and they know they’ve found and retrieved his body.
Speaker 1 51:29
And and his parents are there while this is all happening and the parents are actually incredible. They’re Religious people so they do they have a lot of faith. I mean and they really
Speaker 3 51:39
We lean into their faith. When you think about what faith should look like, I really had the sense that they personified that just with their grace and their dignity and their composure and their real sense of knowing that their son was now at peace and with God.
Speaker 1 52:03
Yeah, and they even said when people asked them do you want revenge and they said no We actually we were praying for his killer is that they have grace and when they go to heaven that they apologize to mark That’s actually called on people to pray for the murderers Gotcha, so
Speaker 2 52:18
be kim and I I’m back fuck me though
Speaker 1 52:28
So remember like the interesting thing is that these people despite everything that’s happening with the police They still believe they’re under the protection of black magic in their minds. This is all just nonsense They’re not actually right in any danger
Speaker 3 52:42
It’s very clear that they were not taking this seriously at all.
Speaker 1 52:47
Like even even to the point like they’re just confessing everything cuz they’re like you can’t do anything, right? So right so eventually they find out that this is all led by this guy Adolfo Constazzo, which is interesting because El Padrino Adolfo Constazzo the cult leader who was on top Above all of this wasn’t just advising Drug lords and whatnot.
Speaker 1 53:08
He was also an adviser to Mexican celebrities and politicians and in particular was the advisor for Florentino Ventura who was the Mexican chief of Interpol which is the organization the international organization that works on you know criminals and international drug drug rings and such, right?
Speaker 2 53:33
So it’s being used for both sides. Correct. All right. All right. Evil versus.
Speaker 1 53:38
Who’s going to win? What’s happening here is that he is getting information from Florentino Ventura on where things were happening in the drug intersections from the cops, right? So he’s able to then use that info to use visions to advise his drug cartel clients, right?
Speaker 1 53:59
Who are paying him incredible sums of money for his religious advice, which then funnels back to Florentino and the other, right? So the whole thing is just a frickin’ mess. And what had happened with Constazzo El Padrino was, you know, he’d been advising all these drug lords, trading all this information, pretending to be this black magic visionary.
Speaker 1 54:23
And charging shit loads of money. Literally like $50 ,000 a session, right?
Speaker 2 54:28
I make more money from the Black Magic than I do even from the drugs.
Speaker 1 54:31
No, that’s the issue. He didn’t right. That’s exactly you just hit on the point what how he got where we are he realizes he could make a lot more money from the drugs I know the black magic right and so in 1987 he goes to the Calzada cartel which is Mexico City’s leading cocaine cartel at the time okay.
Speaker 1 54:51
El Padrino goes to them and he’s been advising them giving him all of his religious information on how to manage their business and avoid getting dead.
Speaker 3 55:02
by the cops.
Speaker 1 55:03
So he goes to them and he says, you know, I don’t want to just advise you anymore. I want to be your partner. In fact, I want to be, I want to have 50%.
Speaker 3 55:11
a deal that you can’t refuse.
Speaker 1 55:14
He said, I want 50% of your business to the Calzadas. There was no ore. He just said, I want 50% of your business. And they were like, cool.
Speaker 2 55:25
sure here it is exactly because he’s the black magic no they said no okay anyway you know what let’s just take a quick break oh yeah let’s
Speaker 1 55:33
back to what happened to the Calzadas after a word from our sponsor.
Speaker 2 55:41
Alright, we’re back. If this isn’t fucked up enough for you, I think it’s going to get even weirder from the looks on their faces, so…
Speaker 1 55:48
Yeah, so where we were was El Padrino, who’s the head of the cult that had murdered Mark Kilroy, has been trading information between the government and drug lords, but pretending he’s doing it under the guise of this, forget the name of the religion, but some Afro -Caribbean religion.
Speaker 1 56:06
But he’s really just…
Speaker 3 56:08
um, parlour mortal.
Speaker 1 56:10
But what he’s really doing is he’s trading information back and forth and making a lot of money doing it. But he decided at some point he’d rather be in the drug business than advising the business and he’s demanded 50% of the business of the Calzada Cartel, one of Mexico City’s biggest cocaine cartels at the time, 1987.
Speaker 1 56:29
Right. And what does he bring to the table? He presented it as he would just be a huge way for them to expand. But they had a huge increase in their business as a result of his protection and that by bringing him into the business, it would just get bigger.
Speaker 1 56:44
So basically it was like 50% of now is going to be nothing because the business is just going to go nuts if you bring Ryan. And they were like, absolutely not, right? He misunderstood and I think he thought they actually believed he was doing black magic, but I think they understood that was sort of a cover for the fact that he was trading information.
Speaker 1 57:03
He sort of started smoking his own grass if you want to put it that way. Gotcha. Well played. Oh, so nobody was actually invisible.
Speaker 2 57:10
Correct. It’s like, for all the claims of invisibility. Correct. No one was invisible.
Speaker 1 57:15
So, he was refused, the Calzada said absolutely not. He was not happy. Not happy, and he had two helpers, this bodyguard named Martin Quinta, this big scary, I mean he looks like central casting Mexican drug lord bodyguard.
Speaker 1 57:33
And then he’s got this prettier guy who works with him, this guy named Omar Ochoa, who’s kinda his… Boyfriend. Boyfriend. He’s also boyfriends with Martin. So like, there’s this weird Minaj Ochoa thing happening.
Speaker 1 57:47
Also, totally side note, very weird. Minaj Ochoa. So he says to these guys, we need to make a move here, and like a week or two later, the entire Calzada family disappears. Wait, what? They actually become invisible.
Speaker 2 58:06
I was going to say, it worked.
Speaker 1 58:08
Except, sadly for them, the invisibility cloak was actually just their bodies being dismembered, burned, and thrown in the Rio Grande. So they’re about- Just from those three guys? Yeah.
Speaker 2 58:22
Well, I don’t know if they brought in another cartel to help, I would assume.
Speaker 1 58:27
Point being they you know did something they did something
Speaker 3 58:31
They he clearly didn’t take kindly right so there wasn’t or
Speaker 2 58:35
There was an or I don’t just don’t think I don’t think I just wasn’t I don’t think they understand
Speaker 3 58:40
Understood. Understood. I don’t think they understood it as we have options. Right.
Speaker 2 58:45
an offer you can’t refuse. I refuse. Okay, I mean
Speaker 1 58:48
the thing is if someone comes to you who you know has been for years just randomly torturing sacrificing and eating and drinking the blood of other humans and you don’t think that there’s maybe a little bit of a implied threat maybe they did think there was an implied threat but didn’t think anything would happen right but well they are no longer but they sound out so at that point he is right
Speaker 3 59:15
It’s like fuck around and find out. Thank you, Kim. That’s good. I didn’t find out was it? Yeah, you didn’t know you’ve never heard of that
Speaker 1 59:23
That’s good. Is that yours?
Speaker 2 59:26
No, no, it’s the internets. It’s the internet
Speaker 3 59:31
We of course know because, you know, we’ve… It’s our life. Right.
Speaker 2 59:36
It’s our marriage
Speaker 1 59:39
around and find out, hey, hey, just kidding. The point is, after this happened with the Calzadas, Costanzo El Padrino had access to a whole market for drugs and started building out his own little cartel situation.
Speaker 1 59:56
All of these guys on the ranch where Mark Kilroy was sacrificed were part of El Padrino’s
Speaker 2 01:00:04
So this all happened prior to the mark situation
Speaker 3 01:00:06
Yeah, I mean, all of this was sort of the lead up and what and how you could say that El Padrino built his empire. Right. That he would be able to sort of summon this sacrifice in the way that he did.
Speaker 3 01:00:22
Right.
Speaker 2 01:00:23
Okay, so all this is basically a precursor to where we got so we got a guy. Who’s in charge who? Is like Star Wars or King Lear something like this guy has taken over He is now both cartel member, but also got tentacles in law enforcement Playing both sides and he’s got this crazy group that thinks they are invisible and have black magic protection Yes, and now they’re they just need people to keep sacrificing to keep fueling.
Speaker 2 01:00:51
Yeah, and he is feared What’s that? He’s here. I’m scared He’s still going. This is the 80s See old and still crazy. Anyway, so let’s just
Speaker 1 01:01:03
let’s go back to where we were with Mark’s story. So at this point, Mark’s parents have come down. They’ve been incredibly stoic about this whole thing, even praying for mercy for his murderers. They knew about Constanzo, right?
Speaker 1 01:01:15
At this point, the investigators knew that El Padrino was involved. It wasn’t a giant secret. Like this guy is pretty well known. The question is, where is he?
Speaker 2 01:01:25
How did he get connected so they got the seraphine guy they got the people on the ranch
Speaker 1 01:01:29
Yeah, I don’t know who gave up the name of El Padrino, but it wasn’t hard for them to figure out that this was the El Padrino group.
Speaker 3 01:01:39
I think also to a huge part of it was they are still in the belief that nothing’s going to happen.
Speaker 1 01:01:46
They’re not even worried about giving up information. In fact, there was a press conference with the Americans and the Mexican authorities where they paraded these suspects, these guys that got at the ranch at a hotel in front of the press.
Speaker 1 01:01:58
And these guys who’d just been arrested start telling every detail of, you know, the kidnapping and everything. They have no fear. Blow by blow account. They have no fear. Right, in their mind, the black magic is protecting them.
Speaker 1 01:02:12
They think they are invisible when they want to be. They actually believe that bullets will deflect around their bodies from the black magic. So I don’t know which of them mentioned El Padrino, but in their mind, he’s like their god, basically, and he’s gonna come rescue them.
Speaker 1 01:02:27
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 01:02:30
spirits will come rescue them. They’ll be okay. Right, essentially that’s what it is. At the end of the day, they have nothing to fear.
Speaker 1 01:02:38
And also, remember, these guys are so dumb that one of them drove through a police blockade. Right, because he was invisible. Right. So that’s how, you know, that’s the level of brilliance you’re dealing with.
Speaker 1 01:02:49
Crazy and dumb. Deadly combination. So what’s happening now is they’re trying to figure out, where is El Padrino? Right now, we know it’s him. Where’s this Costanzo guy, George Costanzo? So they have him in prison.
Speaker 1 01:03:03
They’re interrogating Sarafina and Elio at the jail to try and figure out where Costanzo is. Meanwhile, the two of them are like, how could he see us? Exactly. We’re invisible. What? And these guys are super casual.
Speaker 1 01:03:15
They will not crack. They will not give up any info. They don’t think it matters because they’re under black magic protection. And so lead investigator Benita, at one point, is like, I’ve had enough of this shit, drags Elio, the local leader of the cartel, drags him out of the jail into the parking lot, behind the jail, screams, bring me the horn of the goat.
Speaker 1 01:03:34
Bring me the horn of the goat. Right. And that, in this case, refers to an AK -47 rifle, which was taken from the ranch during the raid. And Benita’s the cop points the AK -47 between the eyes of Elio and says, tell me where the fuck El Padrino is.
Speaker 1 01:03:56
And Elio says, fuck your mother. Your bullets can’t hurt me.
Speaker 3 01:04:01
Okay, they’re gonna bounce right off
Speaker 1 01:04:03
the black magic gonna make the bullets bounce off. So he then points the barrel like quickly, like right to the left of his head, fires three shots into the ground, literally next to the guy’s head. Black magic worked?
Speaker 1 01:04:15
Mm -hmm. And he says, now what do you think of my bullets? It’s like you missed. And Ilios says, here’s the address of Costanzo. He’s in this custody. He thinks it will actually hurt him. He’s like, oh shit, because it hurts.
Speaker 1 01:04:29
Like he felt the bullet, his ears ringing. And he gives up exactly where he is. He says he’s got these two residences in Mexico City. And here’s the addresses. And he’s at one of them.
Speaker 2 01:04:42
He must have been so pissed of all the money they spent on that, and it doesn’t work.
Speaker 1 01:04:46
It doesn’t work. By the time they get to Costanzo, he at this point is sort of aware that things are happening.
Speaker 3 01:04:54
when they clear out the bodies and there’s maybe 15 bodies that they have unearthed on that ranch they had sort of another cleansing ritualistic ceremony which involved burning down the shack right and it was suggested that they do this because it would take the power away from
Speaker 1 01:05:20
So you’re playing in the space between like is this magic real or is it not real? But the Coronado says it’s real right and burn the shed
Speaker 3 01:05:29
I mean the belief
Speaker 1 01:05:31
This is real. So when they go to apprehend Costanzo, he and I don’t know whether he knew the shack had been burned or not. No, he did know. He did know. He did know.
Speaker 3 01:05:42
He knew because he would see it on the media. I thought he felt it like over like, oh, he saw it. Okay, so he saw it on TV. Right, right. And it was understood that Shaq, which was sort of his place of magic where all of this, that he would freak out essentially.
Speaker 3 01:06:01
Yeah, and he did. And he did.
Speaker 1 01:06:05
That, that, that’s the cauldrons, the shack.
Speaker 2 01:06:12
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 01:06:15
Yeah, so it looks like a little shack a little shack a little yeah
Speaker 2 01:06:20
It’s just this little shack. There’d be lawnmowers and rakes in there.
Speaker 3 01:06:23
Yeah. Right. But no, it’s so much more.
Speaker 2 01:06:25
That’s testicles. Right. That’s correct. And cauldrons. Amazing. Ah, fucking me, man.
Speaker 1 01:06:31
So they don’t ever get kistan because they never they never can now because he he has one of his two lover men Shoot him. Oh
Speaker 2 01:06:41
Okay, whew, I was waiting for an invisible guy to show up and take us down.
Speaker 1 01:06:47
He’s here.
Speaker 2 01:06:48
I mean maybe he is. I’m gonna go down. I’m gonna burn every shack. I see right
Speaker 1 01:06:55
Josh is googling Coronado right now. He’s gotta cleanse the studio, please
Speaker 3 01:06:59
When the cops closed in, he lost it. He was reported to have started throwing money out the window, shooting at anyone that was coming around to pick it up, and basically just, he went crazy.
Speaker 2 01:07:20
he threw money out the window and then if people came to get it he would shoot them? He was just, he had a gun.
Speaker 1 01:07:27
That’s what you’re responding to. No, no, I’m crazy.
Speaker 2 01:07:30
I thought he was throwing money out the window to like try to bribe them to leave him alone I didn’t realize he was just flip flipping out. Oh my god Now you see that the Jets games by the way They used to throw change into the center of the spiral staircase and then when kids would run out to try to get the money They would throw beer like beer cans or beer like cups of beer at once.
Speaker 2 01:07:50
This is Jets This was the this was old days of a stadium. Yeah. Well, you know when your team sucks You go a little nutty at halftime the Jets suck They don’t not suck. All right. Let’s move. All right.
Speaker 2 01:08:03
Sorry, you know, I am a little curious Why like he didn’t do the kill like he’s sort of the Manson Yeah, exactly group. Although did the killing the other people do although he
Speaker 3 01:08:16
He participated as the godfather. He was the one that took the machete.
Speaker 1 01:08:26
He was literally there so special thing about this case by the way. This is the first one We’ve done that is a listener suggestion. Oh, what yeah a sleigh caterer by the name of Laurie Snyder Wrote in and just said check out this case with the link to this and I was like man She’s our people this this is sweet love and you know I was just like this case is Insane and horrible and so thank you Laurie
Speaker 2 01:08:53
Yeah. What else you got, Lori? Holy shit.
Speaker 3 01:08:58
Wow
Speaker 1 01:09:00
Laurie came up with the definitely I would say the most gruesome case that we’ve had on the show
Speaker 2 01:09:07
None of them have been fun, but this one is especially fucked.
Speaker 3 01:09:11
That is correct, yeah
Speaker 1 01:09:13
So shout out to Laurie Snyder. Thank you.
Speaker 2 01:09:16
And you know, I will say this too going back to something that I guess your seraphine guy said right He was the one that said something like why are you so worried about this guy? Yeah When there’s all these others and I was like thinking, you know, we’re kind of guilty of the same thing If this didn’t happen on a vacation, we wouldn’t be talking about it
Speaker 1 01:09:34
And in fact, there was the age ranges of the people that they unearthed who’d been sacrificed were from 13 to I think in their 60s or 70s and the mother of the 13 year old hadn’t known what had happened to her kid and So knowing and having some closure.
Speaker 1 01:09:49
Yeah as horrible as that was she was actually just glad to grateful and she actually said without Sort of irony or anger. She’s like I never would have found out what happened to my son if this hadn’t happened to this kid and she wasn’t saying that as a commentary but more of just like a fact and that is a point that’s interesting is like all of these people had this Mexican people had disappeared in Mexico and nobody was really doing anything about it because the corruption at the state and Local level was so profound that you know,
Speaker 1 01:10:23
they weren’t gonna go and bust a cartel because they were right kind of all property from it, you know
Speaker 2 01:10:28
All right, we’re going to take a quick break, and then we’ll come back with takeaway if there’s actually Anything to take away from something this horrible, but there’s always something to take away.
Speaker 2 01:10:38
We’ll be right back All right, we’re back to wrap up this fiesta of horror
Speaker 3 01:10:48
Yeah, I was going to mention that the Kilroy family was satisfied that there were people held accountable, those that had enabled and supported and even took part in the kidnapping of Kilroy. Sarafin was, in fact, the kidnapper.
Speaker 2 01:11:08
So did they ever find out exactly what happened like the kids are standing there in the middle of street one goes off to pay and This guy just runs up behind mark grabs him and drags him into a van. They said so
Speaker 1 01:11:19
something like, hey man, don’t I know you, or something. There was like a friendly sort of approach. And then there’s two guys, right? So they grab him. Interesting thing, horrible thing, is they grabbed him, they put him in the truck, he knows this is bad.
Speaker 1 01:11:35
So at a point they stop. For one of them to relieve themselves. And he actually jumps out of the truck and he’s escaped. And then it turns out the truck behind them also had members of the cartel and they grabbed him.
Speaker 1 01:11:47
So his parents were obviously devastated, but they actually started a foundation to help teens who were having issues with drugs. And you know, some, so some. The mock kill life. Mock kill work foundation, yeah.
Speaker 1 01:12:00
You know, this case also brought so much attention to the cartel violence and the craziness happening in Mexico that this, when this happened in 89 it actually amped up the whole kind of war on drugs situation because it was just so violent and crazy that people were just like, this has to stop.
Speaker 1 01:12:17
Like if this is what’s going on with the drug trade. Those are the things that kind of came out of this. Kim, do you have any like takeaway from this or? I don’t, I don’t.
Speaker 3 01:12:26
It really can’t be overstated the importance of staying close to your group and always being within eyeshot. It’s a little easier today because we have our cell phones, we have Life360, these technological advances have helped in that respect, although still it’s not zero risk.
Speaker 3 01:13:00
No, not when there’s a cartel. No. If there was ever a case of stranger danger, that was it. If Mark were with his group, if he were engaging, that likely would not have happened.
Speaker 2 01:13:15
The takeaway is you gotta just be aware when you’re in a crazy place, a lot of people, a lot of activity, a lot of stuff going on.
Speaker 3 01:13:24
And yeah, your senses have to be really heightened. I mean, heightened alert. And I think, again, when you’re partying and you’re drinking, your guard is down. Right.
Speaker 2 01:13:34
But if you’re in a strange place, and you really don’t know your way around you don’t know the lay of the land You know we’re not trying to blame the victim We’re like I think Kim and I look at it like our as parents.
Speaker 2 01:13:45
You know this is what you would tell our
Speaker 3 01:13:49
That’s what I always say. I always say to her, know where the fuck you are, always stay with your people, okay? If somebody is trying to leave or go somewhere, go with them. If you need to, go the hell home.
Speaker 3 01:14:09
It’s sad, but the reality is, is you have to always see yourself as being in danger.
Speaker 1 01:14:15
I’ll give one specific piece of takeaway here, which is these border towns can be particularly sketchy because of, you know, this is, these are sort of like the endpoints for the cartels getting stuff across the border into the States.
Speaker 1 01:14:32
In some cases, Matamoros in particular did have a history of that. Like we said, like 30 people had been disappeared in the first three months of 1989.
Speaker 3 01:14:40
an incident recently.
Speaker 1 01:14:42
there was, yeah, a bunch of Americans in Matamoros were killed. In fact, the State Department currently has the most extreme warning level for Matamoros to not travel there. So that’s the thing I would say is if you’re traveling somewhere, sort of check the history of the place.
Speaker 1 01:15:02
And if it is a place that you’re going to go that has a history of violence and current violence, and you’re going to go, you’ve got to just stick together. And I don’t know that that would have prevented anything here.
Speaker 1 01:15:17
These guys, this cult was intent on grabbing somebody. They were. They were going to grab somebody. I mean, and then you could.
Speaker 3 01:15:22
consider I mean and that’s the other thing too it’s when you’re in an environment that’s chaotic and frenzied the kidnappers were really able to exploit just the chaos to just go in
Speaker 1 01:15:37
I know that’s what I’m saying like I don’t think there’s anything he could have done Like once they made the decision to go to Madame Moros kind of all bets are off at that point
Speaker 3 01:15:45
And the scary thing is, it could have been anybody. Plus they were invisible. Anybody. Except me. It wouldn’t have been me. But…
Speaker 2 01:15:53
You got to step on the joke. You can’t just let that fucking be the end Right all right, I think that’s that’s all for this one
Speaker 1 01:16:05
You know why the kidnappers thought they could do it? They were invisible.
Speaker 2 01:16:08
Invisible yeah, yeah, I wish I was invisible right now. I feel like I am Cuz no one wants to stop the show Anyway, thank you so much Episode of slication and and you know what yeah, you can leave us reviews you can email us
Speaker 1 01:16:26
at slaycation .wtf. That’s WTF like, what the fuck.
Speaker 2 01:16:31
Yeah, we’re always happy to hear from our sleep haters. Okay. Thank you
