Influencer’s family found wrapped in plastic after cartel-style execution

The bodies of a glamorous influencer, her husband, and her two children have been found wrapped in plastic and dumped in their pickup truck after they were executed in an apparent cartel hit in Mexico, authorities said.

TikToker and singer Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, 32; husband Roberto Carlos Gil Licea, 36; son Gael Santiago, 13; and 7-year-old daughter, Regina; were discovered murdered inside the abandoned gray Ford Ranger in Guadalajara on Aug. 22, prosecutor Alfonso Gutierrez Santillan said during a press conference.

Using surveillance video, investigators traced the route of the truck back to a nearby auto repair shop, where they discovered bloodstains, spent bullet casings and ballistic evidence indicating that the family was likely executed at the site before being driven to another location, Latin Times reports.

“While the forensic results are not yet in, ballistic and blood evidence almost certainly confirm they were murdered at that location,” prosecutor Santillan said.

Two men at the auto repair shop were detained, but later released after the Public Prosecutor’s Office found insufficient evidence, Diario de Yucatan reported.

In another shocking twist, the pair were later kidnapped by armed men minutes after leaving the prosecutor’s office.

The duo had met up with two acquaintances outside when they were intercepted, and three of the four were taken, while one managed to escape and is still at large, according to Mexican media reports.

The attackers lay in wait for the group for more than two hours before striking, suggesting a coordinated attack, prosecutor Blanca Trujillo told reporters.

So far, it is unknown whether the attack was an act of retaliation for the murder of Garibay and her family.

Authorities are now waiting to interview the survivor for his testimony.

The family’s identities were confirmed on Aug. 28, and the husband is thought to have been the target of the murders, Mexican outlet El Financiero reported.

Garibay frequently flaunted her supposedly lavish lifestyle on social media, sharing videos of her Dior, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton products, luxury cars, cosmetic surgery, and expensive vacations with her more than 44,000 TikTok followers.

She also recorded herself lip-syncing to narco-corridos, a notorious Mexican ballad style that glorifies the exploits of the drug cartels, while implying that her husband was a member of such a gang.

One viral video featuring the text, “Advantages of having a narco boyfriend,” along with a clip of her posing with a Gucci handbag, was viewed almost 140,000 times.

So far, no evidence suggests that Garibay or her husband were members of a drug cartel.

Rather, the husband’s involvement in selling vehicles and tomato farming in Michoacan State is rumored to have made him the target of organized crime groups.

The family had recently moved to Guadalajara from Michoacan, one of the most dangerous regions of Mexico according to the US State Department, for work opportunities.