Mark Kilroy

Case background and investigation

On March 14, 1989, twenty-one-year-old Mark James Kilroy, a pre-med student at the University of Texas at Austin, was on spring break with friends in South Padre Island, Texas. That evening, the group crossed the border into Matamoros, Mexico, to visit bars. While walking back toward the international bridge, Mark was grabbed by members of a drug-trafficking cult.

Mark was taken to Rancho Santa Elena, a ranch outside Matamoros operated by cult leader Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, a Cuban-American drug trafficker who practiced a dark form of Palo Mayombe. Constanzo believed human sacrifice would protect him and his followers from law enforcement. Mark was tortured and killed in a ritual sacrifice.

The break in the case came weeks later when a cult member ran a police roadblock. The ensuing investigation led authorities to the ranch, where they discovered the remains of Mark Kilroy and at least 14 other victims. The discovery of the cult's activities shocked the world.

Constanzo and his followers fled but were tracked to a Mexico City apartment in May 1989. During a police standoff, Constanzo ordered a follower to shoot him. Several other cult members were arrested and convicted. Sara Aldrete, Constanzo's second-in-command, was sentenced to 67 years in prison.