On January 31 Raffaele Russo, 60, an Italian national from
Naples, travelled in a rented white Honda CRV 40 kilometers from his four star
hotel in Ciudad Guzmán, to the town Tecalitlán in southeast Jalisco. He left behind his son, Antonio Russo, 25, and
his nephew, Vincenzo Cimmino, 29. Apparently, his plan was to explore
opportunities to sell light machinery.
During the trip Raffaele was in contact with another of his
sons, Francesco, who was in Mexico City. Their last communication was abruptly
cut off at 3 pm on the 31st. Francesco was then unable to reach his
father, and grew concerned. He contacted the car rental agency, which said that
the last GPS reading was from 3.23 PM. Just before this, Rafaelle also sent a
WhatsApp message to family members in Italy saying that police officers were following
him.
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The three missing men |
Francesco then called his brother and cousin in Ciudad
Guzmán, and asked them to go look for his father. They arrived in Tecalitlán in a rental vehicle similar to Raffaele's around 6 pm on that same night, and asked after him.
At about 7 pm they stopped at a gas station on Highway 110, on the outskirts of
town.