In October, CHANNEL 5NEWS first reported the kidnapping of Elia Margarita Flores. She was yanked from her truck at gunpoint. Hidalgo County deputies said several people kidnapped the 39-year-old woman. Victor Manuel Garcia was also kidnapped from that scene in Pharr. Garcia’s body was found stuffed in trash bags, dumped north of McAllen. Flores’s body was found days after her kidnapping. Her body was found in a field, north of Donna.

Investigators determined both of the victims were gunned down. The two victims were involved in human smuggling. Hidalgo County Sherriff’s deputies said they have evidence to prove it.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS found court documents that showed that Martin Casimiro Margarito repeatedly entered the country illegally.

Federal documents showed that Margarito waded or rafted across the Rio Grande River four times in 2007 and was caught by Border Patrol agents.

Margarito served a total of 130 days in federal prison for his four illegal re-entries into the country. He paid $40 for the crime and was ordered to deport every time.

Margarito made it back into the U.S. again, and Flores and Garcia were found murdered in November 2014, two months later. His latest run-in with federal authorities led him to McAllen for an alleged kidnapping for ransom.

In January, a man called police and said he escaped from a home on North 5th Street. The caller said he was kidnapped, because he lost a drug load. Police raided the house.
Police found another person tied up during the house raid. Margarito and a teen were arrested. The Mexican national reportedly also had a number of guns in the home.

Margarito struck a plea deal with federal authorities on that case. He will be sentenced in August.

The office of U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar released a statement to CHANNEL 5 NEWS about the deportation of criminal undocumented immigrants:
Congressman Cuellar "supports the deportation of criminal undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to national security, border security and public safety, including convicted felons and those engaged in terrorism, espionage, murder and the attempted re-entry into the United States."

The congressman participated in a Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday. Cuellar voted in favor of an amendment that would immediately deport undocumented immigrants who pose an immediate threat to security and safety.

Martin Casimiro Margarito will be sentenced in August for the incident in January. Hidalgo County is working to get him charged for last year’s murders of Elia Margarita Flores and Victor Manuel Garcia.

Hidalgo County deputies are still searching for suspects in last year’s kidnapping. Anyone with information linked to the crime should contact the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.