3 arrested in disappearance of Tijuana engineer, assistant

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Three men were arrested Thursday in connection with the March disappearance of an engineer and his assistant, whom prosecutors say were killed.

Alonso Guerrero Chávez and Rubén Rojas were surveying a plot of land for a city project when they vanished.

"Right now, we have three people in custody," Baja California Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez said. "The engineer and his assistant were doing work in a high-crime area using a drone and other equipment, the people in custody were using drugs nearby."

Andrade Ramírez said the suspects thought the engineer and his assistant were "spying on them."

"Since they were only two, they were overwhelmed by the suspects and held against their will, then they were killed with the assailants taking their cellphones and equipment."

Andrade Ramírez said her officer is still trying to get the suspects to provide them with more details including the location of the bodies, which have not been found.

"We are finalizing the investigation," she said. "The suspects have given us different accounts as to what happened as we continue the search for the missing men."

Guerrero Chávez and his assistant were working for the city of Tijuana.

Their families have been actively searching for them since they disappeared and have lobbied the police and the city to do more to find them.