Family of homicide victim speaks out

ALTON — About a dozen family members gathered outside a home Thursday afternoon, waiting to learn how their loved one ended up dead underneath a pile of tires.

 Alton resident German Duque Gonzalez, 65, went to Valeria’s Bakery at 1 a.m. Wednesday for the beginning of his work shift, his daughter San Juanita Perez said.

He was supposed to be out by 6 a.m. because he had plans to go with his wife, Esperanza, to Reynosa, Mexico.

The 65-year-old had worked as a baker at the business near Inspiration Road and Farm-to-Market Road 495 for more than two years and never strayed, his daughter said.

“He didn’t go anywhere else, and if he did, he would tell my mom,” Perez said.

But Gonzalez never made it home.

A passerby spotted his body underneath a pile of tires outside a vacant home near Minnesota Road and Marshall Street about 1:30 p.m. that same day, Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies said. The area north of Palmview is just 4 miles from where Gonzalez’s wife was anxiously waiting for him.

  “He didn’t arrive at the bakery, or at least that’s what they told us there,” Perez said. “They didn’t want to show us the (surveillance) video.”

Perez drove past the crime scene about 3 p.m. — not knowing her father’s body was there.

“I passed by, but I never thought that the person there was my father,” she said.

Investigators have yet to determine how Gonzalez ended up at the location, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

They are treating the death as a homicide even though a pathologist has yet to determine the cause or manner of death.

The pathologist could not make those determinations until more tests are run and analyzed, Treviño said. He estimated the results would take about a week or so to come in.

A preliminary investigation determined Gonzalez suffered at least one blow to the head, he added. He refused to speculate about what might have caused the injury.

Deputies located his abandoned 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis near the 800 block of N. Louisiana Street after a homeowner notified Weslaco police about a suspicious vehicle and contacted Gonzalez’s family.

Deputies seized the vehicle and traced it for evidence, Treviño said. He did not comment on what was found inside.

Gonzalez’s family believes a coworker at the bakery might have been involved.

Gonzalez had several verbal altercations with his coworker, whom the family only knew by first name, Perez said.

“They picked up all of the bakers this morning,” Perez said, referring to deputies.

Treviño, however, said it was routine to speak to anyone connected in any way to homicide victims in order for investigators to find and develop leads.

“I do feel for the family,” he said. “I know they’re very anxious. And we want to know just as bad as they want to, but we need to do our job. It’s too early to call anyone a suspect.”

Deputies will review all surveillance tape from the business and other key locations where Gonzalez might have traveled through, including in Weslaco, he added.

“We want justice. We don’t want this to stay like this,” Gonzalez’s daughter said. “They left him like trash underneath some tires. We want to know who did this and why?”

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Naxiely Lopez covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at naxil@themonitor.com and (956)683-4434.