LAREDO, TX — Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz remained behind bars Monday, accused of murdering four women in Laredo, Texas, in the last two weeks. Authorities are calling him a rogue agent and a serial killer, who they say preyed on some of the most vulnerable members of the community.
Local and state police surrounded a Laredo hotel late Friday night as they moved to capture Ortiz, 35, a 10-year veteran of the Border Patrol and intel supervisor who authorities say is a confessed serial killer.
His alleged crimes and his arrest were detailed during a press conference Monday. Webb County investigators revealed Ortiz targeted women who shared a similar profile. They were all shot and their bodies dumped in remote areas of the city.
“These victims would engage in either drug use or [were] sex workers,” said Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz.
Investigators said Ortiz knew the victims. The first one found on September 3rd was identified as Melissa Ramirez, 29. Ten days later, the body of Claudine Luera, 42, was discovered about two miles from Ramirez’s location. Humberto Ortiz, 28, and a fourth victim who is not yet identified were found around the time that a fifth woman escaped from Ortiz’s custody and flagged down a Texas state trooper.
“It’s a vulnerable community, a community that is defenseless and that has little to no credibility,” said Alaniz.
Also in attendance was the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Carla Provost, whose agency has come under fire. This is the second murder case and the third shooting death involving a Laredo agent in six months.
“We have a peer support and a chaplaincy program as well as a veterans support program. I’m meeting with all of those individuals,” said Provost. “These are the things that we are working on to see how we can better support our men and women in the area.”
Provost assured that the Border Patrol maintains high hiring standards and referred to the suspects as “rogue agents."
Ortiz was placed under indefinite suspension without pay and remains jailed under a $2.5 million bond.
Meanwhile, police are combing through a pile of evidence as they try figuring out the motive behind the murders.