Ash Kelley

So this is what the investigators in South Padre had been thinking when they got the report about Mark going missing in Matamoros.

And if that was what happened to Mark, the small police department in South Padre did lack the resources to deal with a case like this.

I mean, that's a big deal.

Yeah.

So that afternoon, the case was forwarded to Cameron County Sheriff Alex Perez in Brownsville, Texas, which you do have to respect how quickly these police forces moved.

Yeah.

That doesn't always happen.

No.

Definitely not.

It's not often that a small police department realizes that they don't have the resources.

And reaches out.

So when they do, like, you got to snap on them.

Yeah.

Now, if Mark had been kidnapped for ransom, the county sheriff would have had the resources and the regional knowledge necessary to resolve everything, hopefully, without getting on the wrong side of Mexican authorities.

So Perez assigned the case to his most reliable deputy, George Gavito, who immediately recruited the help of Deputy Lupe Limas, a former Brownsville police officer who had recently started working with the sheriff's department.

And he had a lot of experience working on cases that crossed over into the border.

So this is kind of, that's who you need.

A perfect duo, right?

Yeah.

So Gavito and Limas were aware of the potential implications of Mark having gone missing, especially over the border.