Case of Slaying of 4 Texas Girls Still Open Despite Mexico Arrests

Police said Friday they are continuing their investigation of the yogurt shop slayings of four teen-age girls last year despite the arrest of two men in Mexico in the case.

Officials have said the men, who have confessed to the slayings, will be tried in Mexico.

“Whether they’re in Mexico or here, we want to be certain we have the right people,” Deputy Police Chief Ken Muennink said. He added that Travis County officials would assist Mexican authorities with their investigation, supplying documents and other evidence.

“Our investigation is not over,” he said. “We’re going to continue to follow up all the leads we have to close the case up.”

Mexican authorities said Thursday that Porfirio Villa Saavedra, 23, and Alberto Cortez, 22, confessed to the Dec. 6, 1991, slayings at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop. Saavedra was a former employee.

The bodies of Jennifer Harbison, 17; her sister, Sarah Harbison, 15; Eliza Thomas, 17; and Amy Ayers, 13, were found in the store on the morning of Dec. 7 by firefighters in Austin, which is in Travis County.

The girls were tied together and each had been shot in the back of the head, Austin police said. The store was set on fire in an attempt to hide the crime.

The two suspects “will not be extradited because Mexican law forbids extraditing Mexican nationals” to foreign countries, Mexico’s Deputy Atty. Gen. Jose Luis Romero Apis said at a news conference.

Although Mexican authorities said Saavedra and Cortez had been charged in the slayings, officials said late Thursday that murder charges had not been filed. Mexicans can be tried in Mexico for crimes committed abroad.