EL MONTE, CA – Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA32, hosted a press conference at her district office in El Monte on Monday in order to update the media on the investigation into the slaying of El Monte educator and school board member Agustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo. The press conference was attended by members of Bobby Salcedo's family, including Carlos Salcedo, his brother; Mr. Salcedo's mother, Graciela Salcedo; and his widow, Betzy Salcedo.
Following is an excerpt of statements made by Rep. Chu regarding the Salcedo case:
"I want to thank the Salcedo family for being here today, for having the strength and the courage in their darkest days to share their story with us, to remind us of what a wonderful and amazing individual Bobby Salcedo was, and to help us get the word out on this case so that other families will not have to go through what they are going through right now. You will hear from them a little later on.
"But first I wanted to give you all a bit of an update on what has happened over the past three weeks since Bobby's death in Durango, Mexico. And I can tell you that the attention that this case has received, in the media and among the highest government officials on both sides of the border, is actually paying off. There has been some progress in the investigation, and while that progress has not yielded any significant leads or suspects yet, the activity we have seen in recent days gives us hope.
"Now I can't go into specifics about the investigation, and I have specifically been asked by U.S. federal officials, as well as Mexican government officials, not to divulge specific information for fear of jeopardizing the investigation. But what I can tell you is that U.S. law enforcement is becoming more and more involved in the case as the days go by. In fact, U.S. federal agencies have even been able to facilitate some of the forensic analysis of evidence collected in the case.
"That is as much as I can say about the investigation, but I can assure you, from my conversations with various government officials from the FBI and the U.S. State Department, that our government is extremely involved in this investigation, has been closely monitoring the situation and continues to do so on a daily basis, and is invested in solving the murder of Bobby Salcedo. And to give you an idea of how high in the chain of command that involvement goes, I received a call last week from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was aware of the specifics of the case and asked me to pass on not only her condolences to the Salcedo family, but also assurances that she is personally keeping a close eye on the situation."
Rep. Chu also detailed her conversations so far with other high ranking U.S. federal and Mexican officials, including Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office; U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pasqual, who is a native of El Monte and has been following the case closely; and Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan. All of them assured Rep. Chu that they are committed to providing the resources necessary to solve the case.
The Congresswoman also pledged to do more to help combat the drug violence in Mexico that led to Mr. Salcedo's slaying. She is introducing a resolution this week in Congress urging her colleagues to do more to encourage U.S. and Mexican collaboration in fighting the drug cartels, and she plans on meeting with Ambassador Pasqual next week to discuss additional options, including possible legislation, to target the drug cartel's money laundering operations.
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