El Paso Woman Found Strangled In Downtown Juarez

JUAREZ — An El Paso woman was found strangled in Downtown Juarez early Tuesday morning.

Themurder ofLucia Gutierrez, 24, was first reported Tuesday night by XHIJ Channel 44 in Juarez.

Thevictim’s sister, Linda Gutierrez, tells ABC-7 she found out about her sister’s murder after seeing photos of her tattoos during the news report. That night, authorities in Juarez were asking for help identifying the victim.

Linda said her sister was in Juarez visiting her boyfriend, who had recently been deported. Lucia lived and workedin El Paso andis survived by her 7-year-old son, who is now in the custody of his biological father.

The victim’s brother, David Gutierrez, said Lucia had been missing since Monday. David said he could not believe the news of his sister’s murder and thought it was all a misunderstanding.

“It had to besomeone else with the same tattoos, but they verified it. They sentus pictures … sure enough it was her,” he said.

The family is currently making arrangements to bringher back to El Paso for burial.

This is the second El Paso woman to be killed in Juarez in two weeks. The first victim was found with her throat slashed in the Downtown area.