Guillermo Madrigal Ballesteros- Texas/Iowa- 2002

Guillermo Madrigal is a cold case fugitive that will be profiled sometime this season on "The Hunt with John Walsh"

According to court documents, Ballesteros was part of an international smuggling operation involved in smuggling illegal aliens from Central America into the U.S. through Mexico between January 2000 and February 2003. The organization harbored the aliens in drop houses in or near Harlingen, Texas, and transported the aliens past the U.S. Border Patrol check point in Sarita, Texas, usually by rail, then by vehicle to Houston, Texas, and other parts of the country. In June 2002, Ballesteros and the rest of the co-conspirators lost track of a locked railroad grain car, into which eleven undocumented aliens had been loaded. The eleven aliens were found four months later, in October 2002, in the same locked rail car at a Union Pacific railroad depot in Denison, Iowa during a pre-load inspection by persons associated with the railroad. The eleven men and women had died of dehydration and hyperthermia.

Since then, 10 members of the group were caught and many were sentenced. Ballesteros is the only member that remains at large. An update was provided in a 2010 documentary titled "Train To Nowhere." Arnulfo Flores, one of the conspirators who was convicted and later released, was even interviewed for it. In it, he says he's sorry for what happened, but maintains he isn't responsible, saying he thought he was helping the immigrants by providing train schedles, adding they wanted to come to the United States.

Another smuggler, Juan Fernando Licea-Cedillo, of Mexico, said to be the leader, was sentenced to 292 months in prison (24 years) but declined to be interviewed for the documentary.

Thoughts? This is a pretty unique case. In AMW/The Hunt history, perhaps only Devon Russell's fugitive case is somewhat similar to it. My best guess is Ballesteros is probably hiding somewhere in Mexico.

www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1528443/posts

www.carrollspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=284&ArticleID=11059

UPDATE: As of July 20th, 2018, Ballesteros is still listed as a wanted fugitive on the "Fugitive Watch" website: www.fugitive.com/2016/08/07/guillermo-madrigal-ballesteros-and-rogelio-hernandez-ramos-allegedly-tied-to-murder-of-11-men-women-and-children/

Admin Note #1: Since this case was aired on a national crime show, our advice would be to contact either the U.S. Marshals Service or FBI (unsure which would have jurisdiction but both should be able to determine) or your local or international law enforcement agency.

Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form