Feds Offer Giant Reward in Border Slaying
FBI offers $10K reward for Border Patrol agent Robert Rosas' weapon
By ERIC S. PAGE, MARI PAYTON and H. HUGHES
Updated 5:08 PM PST, Thu, Aug 6, 2009
Federal officials added a quarter-million dollars to the already enormous FBI reward for information leading to the killer(s) of Agent Robert Rosas.
Rosas's body was found on the night of July 23 near Campo. The 30-year-old agent was killed while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo. He was shot in the head and body, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.
The $250,000 reward offered Thursday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in addition to the $100,000 put up by the FBI last month. Both rewards are for the arrest and conviction of the killer(s). The FBI has also said anyone with information leading to the recovery of Rosas' missing black Heckler Koch (HK) P2000 .40 caliber service pistol would be eligible for a $10,000 reward.
“CBP offers this reward to encourage anyone with information on the murder of Agent Rosas to come forward and share the information with the FBI,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern. "Bringing those responsible to justice for this heinous act is of paramount importance for CBP and our law enforcement partners on behalf of Agent Rosas’ family, friends and colleagues."
It's not clear why federal authorities are offering the rewards since several suspects are already in custody. A call to CBP Public Affairs was not immediately returned.
In the week after the slaying, Mexican authorities named a man they accused of murdering Rosas. The country's federal police said the alleged gunman is Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36. He was arrested Friday in Tecate. At the time, it was reported that Valenzuela was carrying a Border Patrol-issued pistol, but the FBI said they are looking for a different weapon than one shown in a photograph taken after Valenzuela's arrest.
Mexican police also announced the arrests of four men in July near Tecate who are suspected of involvement in the fatal shooting. U.S. investigators also arrested three people at a San Jose, Calif., hospital, but it's not known what role they may have played in the killing.
Mexico police did not say what evidence they had against the four, whom they identified as Jose Quintero Ruiz, 43, and his brother Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, 49; and taxi drivers Jose Alfredo Camacho, 34, and Antonio Valladares, 57.
Anybody with information concerning this case is being urged to contact the FBI at 858-565-1255. Tipsters can remain anonymous, according to the officials with both organizations.
First Published: Aug 6, 2009 4:53 PM PST
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