TIJUANA, Mexico – The body of a U.S. citizen kidnapped nearly three weeks ago has been found in Tijuana by police, who said he had been beaten, strangled, stripped naked and stashed in the trunk of a car.
Investigators said Saturday that they found the remains of George Kwok Choi Chu, a seafood wholesaler who worked in Tijuana but lived across the border in San Diego, on Friday morning. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City identified the victim simply as George Chu.
Chu was kidnapped April 11 in front of his business near downtown Tijuana, according to the embassy. It was unclear whether the car that contained Chu's body belonged to him.
His body's state of decomposition suggested he had been dead for days before being found, police said.
Chu was kidnapped three days after another U.S. businessman, Yong Hak Kim, was abducted as he drove to his job as a top administrator of Amex Manufacturing in eastern Tijuana.
Kim was able to escape the small home where he was being held about 24 hours later, when his kidnappers fell asleep.
Tijuana's booming assembly-for-export business has led to many businesspeople living in the United States and commuting to factories on the Mexican side of the border.
While kidnappings and killings are common in Tijuana, factory executives had been one of the few groups to largely escape the violence.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox