Among them, 16 are from Mexico, four from Guatemala and two from Honduras. Their ages range between 13 and 55 years. The youngest victims were 13-year-old Pascual Melvin Guachiac Sipac and 14-year-old Juan Wilmer Tulul Tepaz — two cousins who had fled their village in Guatemala hoping to find work in Houston, their families told CNN en Español. “He had so many dreams. He dreamed of a better future, to build a house, to support his brothers as well as his father,” María Tutul, Juan Wilmer’s cousin, told CNN en Español. Another victim, Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada, 27, who lived in Cuyamel, a small town in northwestern Honduras, was convinced she would find a better life in the U.S., where her mother and sisters already lived, her family said . “I told her — “Don’t go. You live well here. Here you can live wherever you want, working,” Adela Aguilar’s grandmother told CNN affiliate Televicentro. The 22 victims identified on Wednesday are: • Adela Betulia Ramirez Quezada, 27, from Honduras • Alvaro Ojeda Salazar, 23, from Mexico • Efrain Garcia Ferrel, 22, from Mexico • Enrique Chavez, 37, from Guatemala • Fernando Gallegas Garcia, 38, from Mexico • Gustavo Santillan Santillan, 27, from Mexico • J. Marcial Trejo Hernandez, 38, of Mexico • Jair Valencia Olivares, 20, from Mexico • Javier Flores-Lopez, 35, from Mexico • Jesus Alvarez Ortega, 43, of Mexico • Jose Guadalupe Narciso Muniz Lopez, 35, of Mexico • Joshua Diaz Gallardo, 34, of Mexico • Juan Valeriano-Domitilo, 55, from Mexico • Juan Wilmer Tulul Tepaz, 14, from Guatemala • Maria Monterro-Serrato, 28, from Mexico • Mariano Santiago Hippolito, 32, from Mexico • Misael Olivares Monterde, 16, from Mexico • Pablo Ortega Alvarez, 20, from Mexico • Pascual Melvin, 13, from Guatemala • Yazmin Nayarith Bueso Nunez, 37, from Honduras • Yeisan Efrain Jimenez, 20, from Guatemala The Honduran government had previously identified Ramirez Quezada and Bueso Nunez as victims. The country said two brothers in their 20s and the wife of one of them were missing. “We planned this together as a family, so they could have a different life, so they could achieve their goals and dreams,” Karen Caballero, the men’s mother told reporters last week outside her home in Las Vegas, Honduras. “That was the launch pad.” At least four people have been charged in connection with the deadly smuggling incident. The alleged driver, Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, who is originally from Brownsville but resides in Pasadena, Texas, was arrested last week on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in human trafficking resulting in death, according to a news release of the US Department of Justice. . According to public records, Zamorano has a lengthy criminal record dating back to the 1990s. Christian Martinez, 28, was charged with conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants resulting in death, the Justice Department said. If convicted, both Zamorano and Martinez face life in prison or the death penalty. CNN reached out to Martinez’s attorney for comment, while Zamorano declined to comment. Two others have also been arrested and charged in the case. The discovery came as US federal authorities launched an “unprecedented” operation to disrupt people-smuggling networks amid an influx of migrants at the US-Mexico border.
