A TikTok influencer, her husband and their two children have been discovered dead in an abandoned pickup truck in Guadalajara, Mexico. The bodies of Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, 32, her husband Roberto Carlos Gil Licea, 36, and their children Gael Santiago, 13, and Regina, 7, were found on Friday last week. Mexican authorities confirmed their identities on Thursday and have launched a murder investigation.
Esmeralda, known online as Emseralda FG, had 18,000 followers and over half a million likes on TikTok. Her content included lifestyle and travel videos, as well as lip-syncs to 'narcocorrido' drug ballads. The family had moved to Guadalajara for work just months earlier. The city is a stronghold for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Police are reportedly linking the killings to business activities rather than the influencer's online presence. Investigators traced the truck's movements via CCTV to a mechanic's workshop. Prosecutor Alfonso Gutiérrez Santillán stated that ballistic and blood evidence suggests the family was murdered there. Two workers were questioned but released due to lack of evidence.
After leaving the prosecutor's office, the two workers met with two others before armed men abducted three of them. The fourth escaped and is being sought for questioning. Prosecutor Blanca Trujillo said the perpetrators had watched the exit for over two hours before carrying out the abduction. The three missing men remain unaccounted for.
