Colleague pays tribute to Ohio architect who was found dead with his fiancee and relatives
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Colleagues paid tribute to an Ohio architect who was found dead with his fiancee and two family members in Mexico after going missing on Christmas Day.
Mexican authorities found four ‘charred’ bodies on Thursday of last week in a pickup truck covered in bullet holes near El Cuidado, Zacatecas. local reports said.
Authorities confirmed that one of the bodies belonged to architect José Gutiérrez, 36, of Hamilton, Ohio. Investigators had to wait for DNA confirmation before identifying the remains after the body was found in a “reduced skeletal” state.
Authorities previously identified three of the bodies as Gutierrez’s fiancée, Daniela Márquez, 31, her sister Viviana Márquez, 26, and the woman’s cousin, Irma Vargas, 27.
Ohio architect José Gutiérrez, 36, and his fiancee Daniela Márquez, 31, were confirmed dead after going missing on Christmas Day.
José Gutiérrez (pictured) was in Mexico visiting his fiancée Daniela Márquez during the Christmas season.
Champlin Architecture said they would create a scholarship in honor of Gutiérrez
José’s employer in Cincinnati, Champlin Architecture, confirmed his death in a post on its Facebook page.
‘It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of our colleague and friend, José Gutiérrez, who tragically passed away while visiting his fiancée, Daniela Pichardo, in Mexico while on vacation.
“His work improved the lives of those in the community he chose to make his home,” they added.
Ohio-based Champlin Architecture also said it would create a scholarship in his honor.
We will all miss him more than words can express. Champlin Architecture will create a scholarship in his name at the University of Miami, to honor his impact on our firm and the community. We will share the details once this has been established.
José Gutiérrez was in Mexico visiting his fiancée Daniela Márquez during the Christmas season. The two hoped to get married this year and José often flew to see Daniela.
On Christmas Day, the couple and Daniela’s sister and cousin visited a local bar in Jerez de García, Zacatecas, in central Mexico.
Daniela’s mother, Rosa Pichardo, told TV Azteca that she had spoken to her around 10 p.m. that night, before the group returned to their home in Colotlán.
The concerned mother received an alert on her cell phone about an hour and a half later when Daniela shared her location with Rosa’s phone. The alert said that they were in Vivoras, a neighborhood in the Zacatecan town of Tepetongo.
On Christmas Day, the four of them visited a local bar in Jerez de García, Zacatecas, in central Mexico.
Viviana Márquez, 26, is one of the four people who were reportedly kidnapped in Mexico and confirmed dead last Thursday.
Irma Vargas would have been kidnapped with her two cousins and her cousin’s fiancée
After not hearing from them after Christmas Day, the family feared they had been kidnapped.
Daniela’s mother, Rosa Pichardo, told TV Azteca that customers at a local bar reported screaming. “There were those who saw that they were being kidnapped,” she said. “There was a lot of panic, screaming, but they didn’t get them out and they took the vehicle.”
They took the girls, my daughter’s fiancée, Daniela. They took off, they went to Vivoras.
The family filed a police report with police in Hamilton, the Ohio city where Jose lived. They also said they reached out to the FBI for help.
Mexican authorities later confirmed that they were looking for the group.
The car in which the wedding couple was traveling was found last Thursday in Vivoras, which borders the state of Jalisco. It was covered in bullet holes.
At least 666 kidnappings were reported from January to November 2022 in Mexico, compared to 625 in 2021.
1,047 kidnappings were registered in 2020 and 1,629 in 2019.
The US Department of State has warned residents to refrain from traveling to Zacatecas due to local crime and kidnappings.
José Gutiérrez and his fiancée Daniela Márquez hoped to get married this year