Lilia Garcia

HOBBS NEWS-SUN • FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005

Funeral services for Lilia
Garcia of Hobbs, N.M., will be
p.m. Friday, March 11, 2005,
at Our Lady
of Guadalupe
Church
with Father
Pedro Valdez
officiating.
Burial will
be at Prairie
H a v e n
Memorial
Park.
Visitation
is 8 a.m. until service time.
Arrangements are in the
care of Griffin Funeral Home.
Mrs. Garcia, 38, died
Monday, March 7, 2005, in
Hobbs. She was born Dec. 13,
1966, in Porvenir, Mexico.
Mrs. Garcia had spent most
of her life in Hobbs and was a
dedicated mother and homemaker.
She was a bus driver
for B&G Transportation for
the last few years.
Survivors include two sons,
Jose A. and Gerardo Garcia of
Hobbs, N.M.; two daughters,
Gabriela and Daniela Garcia
of Hobbs, N.M.; her mother,
Maria de Pilar Juarez Gardea
of Hobbs, N.M.; her father,
Francisco Esparza Villapando
of San Elizario, Texas; three
brothers, Francisco and
Fabian Juarez of Hobbs, N.M.,
and Ismael and wife Rosa
Juarez of Hobbs, N.M.; and a
sister, Bertha and husband
Rosalio Cerna of Hobbs, N.M.


****************

HOBBS NEWS-SUN • Tuesday, MARCH 08, 2005

Not even 24 hours after their son
reported his parents missing, Lea
County Sheriff ’s deputies found the
couple’s bodies Monday in a field.
The bodies of Lilia Garcia, 38, and
her estranged husband, Jose Reyes
Garcia, 36, both of Hobbs, were found
along with their vehicles at 2:49 p.m.,
as deputies patrolled the area near
the east end of Marland.
Lilia appeared to have suffered multiple
stab wounds and a gunshot
wound. Jose also appeared to have a
gunshot wound. A bayonet-style knife
and rifle were recovered from the
scene.
“From initial appearances, it seems
to be a murder-suicide,” said Sheriff
Keith Rice. “The final determination
will be left until we get the autopsy
results back and run everything
through the D.A.’s office.”
Rice also said there were no suspects
the department was currently
looking at in the case.
According to a press release issued
by Capt. Rod Coffman of the Lea
County Sheriff ’s Department, Hobbs
police had asked the surrounding law
enforcement agencies to be on the
lookout for the missing couple.
The couple’s son called Hobbs police
Monday morning to report that he
had not heard from his mother since
8 a.m. Sunday. He told police that
Garcia’s red 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup
was also missing from her residence
on Avenue A.
His father had not been seen since
around 9 a.m. Sunday and his vehicle,
a blue 2002 Dodge Ram truck, was
also missing from his Church Street
residence. According to the son, his
father had just gotten off the phone
with his mother just before they went
missing.
There had been a history of domestic
violence between the two, according
to police reports.
The bodies have been sent to
Albuquerque for autopsy. The Lea
County Sheriff ’s Department is continuing
its investigation.
Murder-suicide suspected in deaths