Police found three bodies duct-taped at the hands and mouths and packed in a Toyota Avalon this morning in an isolated area in Chicago’s old Kenwood manufacturing district.
One of the bodies, a 300+-pound male, was discovered in the trunk and two other men were found in the backseat. Police called it a “tragic scene.”
The Avalon belonged to one of the victims, 28-year-old Hector Romero, records show.
Romero, of the 1650 block of North Karlov Avenue, in Humboldt Park, was a stay-at-home father of three children, according to his cousin, Jeannett Gonzalez.
"He's not an evil person. He's loving. We don't know who might have done this to him," she said, adding that the last time she saw her cousin was on Sunday.
She said that everything seemed fine with Romero and he didn't mention any problems. Romero did have a criminal record for drugs and weapons, but recently worked as a volunteer with Ceasefire, the anti-crime organization.
None of the victims had ID on them, investigators said, adding that they can't confirm how the men were killed. Investigators suspect, however, that the trio was killed and then driven to the location where the car was found. Each victim appears to be in their 20s.
A similar scene played out in nearby McKinley Park a month earlier when three bound men were discovered in a Pontiac Grand Prix.
It's not clear if these two crimes were connected.
Cops were alerted when an employee from nearby Accu-Labs noticed the car and thought the car, which was parked on 48th place between Whipple and Kedzie, looked suspicious. He reportedly thought the man in the back was sleeping.
The employee declined to be interviewed and workers from the chemical plant were let go for the day.
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