Residents in San Antonio are on edge after a human body was found over the weekend dismembered, decapitated and burnt beyond recognition. The body was discovered inside an apartment complex dumpster early Sunday morning on the Southeast Side.
“Looked like a burning pile,” apartment resident Paul Munoz told Fox San Antonio. Munoz was one of the first people to investigate what he believed was just burning furniture. That’s when he located what he said looked like a badly burned woman’s body.
“I got maybe where that pony was and I looked at it and I could tell that it was a lady with her hands cut off and her head cut off and her feet cut off,” Munoz described.
“It’s like someone just threw her there and lit her on fire.” San Antonio police on Monday confirmed they did not have a motive, a suspect, or yet know the identity of the mutilated person.
“Police Sgt. Jesse Salame said Monday they are not releasing any information currently on the possible location of the head and hands,” reports the Austin American Statesman.
While police are not speculating on a possible motive, violence such as beheadings and dismemberment are consistent with Mexican and transnational cartel activity, which is prevalent in the San Antonio area.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Mexican Mafia, Tango Blast, Bloods, Crips, Sureños and Latin Kings are the most active and significant gangs in the region.
The 2015 Texas DPS Gang Threat Assessment report also links the illegal immigrant influx to a rise in transnational gangs and violence in the state.
“A major consequence of an increase in transnational gang members crossing into Texas is the projected corresponding increase in transnational criminal activity. Transnational gangs frequently work in collaboration with Mexican cartels to help facilitate the trafficking of drugs, money, and people. Contracted home invasions and murders also occur. Several gangs in Texas, such as Barrio Azteca and MS-13, operate on both sides of the border, and often cross the border illegally.” [emphasis ours]