An agent with the U.S. Border Patrol has been accused of being a serial killer following the slayings of four women over the course of the last two weeks.
State and local officials in Texas said Saturday that 35-year-old Juan David Ortiz, a 10-year veteran of the agency, was arrested on suspicion of killing the four women, who police say were working as prostitutes at the time of their deaths.
Authorities said Ortiz, an intel supervisor for the Border Patrol, was identified after a fifth woman was abducted but managed to escape and notify law enforcement.
Per CBS News, Ortiz fled from state troopers and was found hiding in a truck in a hotel parking lot in Laredo, Texas early Saturday morning.
"My condolences to the families of the 4 victims who were murdered within the past two weeks," Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said at a news conference.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz told the AP he believes Ortiz has killed four women, including one transgender woman, since Sept. 3.
Alaniz and his office have referred to the slayings as "serial killings."
"The manner in which they were killed is similar in all the cases from the evidence," said Alaniz.
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