SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A missionary couple with ties to Utah has been killed in Mexico during an apparent home invasion.
According to their son, John and Wanda Casias were Baptist missionaries serving in Santiago, located 3 hours from the Texas border, and just south of Monterrey.
The son said that the Santiago area is a drug cartel stronghold, and that police presence was absent in the area.
Casias' son said his mother's body was found hanging in a kitchen Tuesday afternoon, and that his father's body was found some time later behind a guest house near a river.
The son said a safe and some electronics were missing from the home, and that installed surveillance cameras were most likely destroyed by his parent's attackers.
Casias' son said whoever committed the crime also most likely had inside knowledge of the couple's home, or even knew his parents.
John and Wanda Casias were from Amarillo, Texas, where they once owned a successful car dealership. John's son said his parents sold the business and moved to Mexico due to their strong beliefs in Jesus Christ and devotion to bring others to their faith. The son said his parents were responsible for building at least four separate meetinghouses in Mexico.
Their son said John and Wanda had strong ties to the Bible Baptist church in Taylorsville, and that the Utah congregation helped fund their missionary activities in Mexico.
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