Two priests were killed inside a Mexican church. Over two months later, the suspect — “The Crooked One” — is still at large.

More than two months after a pair of Jesuit priests were killed inside a church in a distant mountain group in northern Mexico, the suspected killer stays on the unfastened and townspeople are frightened, however the non secular order says it is not leaving.

The killings of Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora, in addition to a tourism information they tried to shelter, stirred anger in Mexico and the Roman Catholic Church. Frustration has grown with failure to seize the suspect, the alleged chief of a native drug gang, José Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco,” or “The Crooked One.”  

Two priests who survived the assault stay at the parish in Cerocahui in the Tarahumara Mountains of Chihuahua state, however now transfer about with navy escorts.

Despite the killings and persevering with security considerations, the Jesuit order dismissed any concept of closing its mission there. It is sending two extra priests and a particular person finding out for the priesthood, mentioned Jorge González Candia, an advisor with the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus in Mexico, who was assigned to the case.

“We saw very clearly that we could not withdraw due to the fear or insecurity that exists,” González mentioned.

Tensions rose in Cerocahui after a video circulated on social media final week of a masked particular person who recognized himself as Portillo Gil. The man denied being accountable for the killings, mentioned he knew what actually occurred and appeared to make a veiled menace in opposition to one among the surviving priests.

“After that video, we are asking for protective measures,” González mentioned. There is concern amongst the Jesuits that the gang might assault their folks in the space, one thing that had not beforehand occurred throughout their many years working with Indigenous communities in these mountains.

González mentioned it was “incredible” that 1,000 troopers and 200 nationwide guardsmen deployed to the space had not been capable of finding Portillo Gil. The state prosecutor’s office announced a reward of $250,000 for information resulting in the seize of the alleged assassin. The workplace mentioned it was the highest reward provided in the historical past of the state.

Portillo Gil already had a pending arrest order, however had continued to roam the area with impunity. He was additionally accused in the 2018 killing of Patrick Braxton-Andrew, a 34-year-old Spanish trainer from North Carolina who was touring in the Tarahumara Mountains. Portillo Gil’s gang apparently suspected Braxton-Andrew of being a U.S. drug agent.

Portillo Gil’s gang is believed to be tied to the Los Salazar, which is related to the Sinaloa cartel.

After the killings, the navy arrange a base in the space. Soldiers now accompany the Jesuits as they journey in the space.

González Candia mentioned the two surviving priests who stayed in Cerocahui had requested to take action as a result of “there is a love of the land, the culture, the people and they also see the need to accompany the mourning.” However, he mentioned the order continues to judge their state of affairs.

Asked if capturing Portillo Gil would resolve the crime issues in the area, González Candia mentioned it had been seen elsewhere that “when you only catch a boss, the criminal groups multiply, the number of crimes increases and the prisons fill up.”

Investigation, change to native constructions and political will are wanted to make the adjustments that can generate peace, he mentioned.

The church’s Catholic Multimedia Center said seven priests have been murdered beneath the present administration, which took workplace in December 2018, and at least two dozen beneath the former president, who took workplace in 2012. In 2016, three priests were killed in only one week in Mexico.