L.A. Couple Held in Death of Son Who Was Found in Dump

A Wilshire district couple have been arrested on suspicion of murdering their teenage son, whose nude, scarred body was found a year ago in a trash dump on the outskirts of the Mexican town of Ciudad Obregon.

Los Angeles police said the crime, which led to an outpouring of compassion from the Sonoran town, had stymied Mexican officials for months.

The case was not solved, Wilshire Division detectives said, until the couple’s 17-year-old nephew came to them about five weeks ago with “a bizarre story of child abuse and murder.”

The youth, who was not identified, reportedly told officers that his aunt and uncle, Maria Elena and Saul Tinoco--who are his guardians--had beaten and starved him and their son, Edwin Antonio Tinoco, over a protracted period. Why the youths did not seek help was not immediately clear.

According to the nephew, Edwin was so severely beaten in late February 1998 that he died of his injuries.

On March 1, 1998, Mexican officials discovered the nude body of a teenager at the dump in the Sonoran desert outside Ciudad Obregon.

Forensic studies revealed that the boy had been the victim of long-term physical abuse. Pathologists said that although he had been severely beaten, the probable cause of death was strangulation.

Police said local townspeople--shocked at the crime and saddened that the boy could not be identified--took up a collection for his funeral and burial.

For a year, the crime remained unsolved.

Then, on Feb. 23, the nephew walked into the Wilshire Division station and told his tale of horror.

The investigation led detectives here to believe that the boy’s body might have been dumped in the Sonoran desert.

When they contacted their counterparts in Mexico, they learned about the corpse in the dump. Exhumation confirmed that the victim was Edwin Antonio Tinoco.

Maria and Saul Tinoco were arrested Wednesday and booked on suspicion of murder.

Both are being held without bail in Los Angeles.