In the quiet community of Algodones, New Mexico, a dark story unfolded around the disappearance and murder of 48-year-old Geraldine Sena in March of 2016. What began as a missing persons case soon unraveled into a grim tale of betrayal and violence, not only ending her life but also the lives of her 25-year-old son, Samuel Sena, and 32-year-old John Santistevan.
The three were last seen on the first of March, but it wasn't until over two weeks later, on March 17, that they were officially reported as missing.
The initial breakthrough in the case came with the discovery of a gray Ford F-150 pickup truck, abandoned in a desolate area near the San Felipe Casino. The truck, riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood, painted a gruesome picture of the violence that had transpired. Investigators soon pieced together a narrative suggesting the victims were involved in a stolen car ring and had been lured from their apartment by a man named Omar Flores-Castillo, who was 26 at the time. It is believed that Flores-Castillo used an AK-47 to shoot and kill all three individuals inside the pickup truck.
The motive behind these brutal killings was reportedly tied to suspicions that Geraldine Sena and the other two victims were cooperating with law enforcement and possibly stealing drugs from the very people they were involved with. In a chilling effort to cover up the triple homicide, the perpetrators allegedly used a chemical accelerant to speed up the decomposition of the bodies before burning and burying them in a shallow grave. For months, the final resting place of the victims remained a secret, until one of the suspects, Samuel Jiminez-Perez, provided crucial information that led authorities to the burial site. Following this grim discovery, three individuals, including Omar Flores-Castillo and Samuel Jiminez-Perez, were taken into custody in connection with the murders.
