San Diego Teachers Aide Slain in Tijuana

Police have several leads but no suspects in the stabbing death of a San Diego teachers aide whose body was found over the weekend in a drainage canal, Mexican authorities said.

Investigators are reviewing witness accounts and other evidence in the death of Ted Esquivel, 40, said Sofia Buerba, the Baja California state prosecutor’s spokeswoman.

Esquivel, of San Diego, was a teachers aide at the private Excelsior Academy, a school for children with learning disabilities.

Mexican police and paramedics found Esquivel, who had been stabbed in the chest, in the concrete-lined canal Friday night. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Administrators at Excelsior informed students and faculty about the death Monday and plan to cancel classes Friday for a memorial at the school.

The school’s director, Frank Maguire, described Esquivel as a passionate and dedicated educator who was often among the first to arrive at the school each day.

“It’s the loss of a very important person in our lives,” Maguire said.