HORROR SLAYING
Mystery as high school senior’s body found in Mexico 2 years after mom says he was kidnapped & beaten in ransom demand
A HIGH school senior's body has been found in Tijuana nearly two years after his mom says he was kidnapped in a ransom demand.
Family of Miguel Anthony Rendon said he left San Diego and crossed the border to Tijuana to visit his mother in May 2020.
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Two weeks later, the 19-year-old went back to Tijuana to visit his girlfriend and surprise his mother, Emma Medrano Gallardo.
However, instead of seeing her son, Medrano received a haunting call around midnight.
“In Spanish, they said, ‘Lady, we have your son. We need this much money,” she told San Diego ABC affiliate .
Medrano said she was in disbelief until a follow-up video call confirmed her worst fears.
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“My heart just almost stopped,” she said. “He was tied up and bloody with his face. He could barely talk.”
The next day, Medrano’s ex-husband handed over the ransom at the Tijuana border, while she waited at another location for her son.
“It was horrible. Every minute, it was like days,” she said.
After waiting for over six hours, no one showed. Medrano said it was a lasting heartbreak.
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“Hoping every day to get a phone call, but we never did,” she said.
The abduction was reported to the Mexican authorities and the FBI, Medrano said, and she led multiple searches for her son with the help of nonprofits.
A few weeks ago, she got heartbreaking news. She said the FBI told her that Miguel’s body was found in Tijuana with few other details available.
“That moment, it was like, my hope is gone, but it was like a relief, finally,” she said.
“I will get to have him back and know where he is.”
Medrano said she has no clue why her son was targeted. She said Miguel was an athlete and a senior at Hoover High School.
He was supposed to graduate that spring with plans of enlisting in the Marines.
“He was always smiling, funny," the mother said of her son.
"He had learning disabilities and was a special education student, but he had goals, and now he won’t get to live his life."
She hopes there is justice after the tragedy, “so they don’t get to do this to anyone else or other kids.”
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A was created by Miguel’s family. The teen is described as a “pillar in his home, constantly showing love for his mother and only wanting the best for his siblings.”
“Let us come together to help us shower his family in this time of unimaginable loss,” read the page.
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