A Chicago couple who vanished in Mexico City after leaving home to buy a chairlift for a sick family member has been found dead weeks later, according to multiple reports.
Zafar Mawani and Guillermo Ortiz, both 56, disappeared on May 20 after heading out to buy a chairlift for Mawani’s ailing mother. The couple had moved to Mexico City in October, but what appeared to be a routine errand quickly turned into a nightmare.
According to reports, the sellers allegedly asked Mawani and Ortiz to meet at Mawani’s mother’s home, where the chairlift was being installed, to complete the purchase. Before they lost contact, the couple reportedly sent their real-time location to a friend.
They were last known to be south of Mexico City, about 31 miles east of the mountains of La Marquesa National Park, according to authorities’ missing persons flyers cited by NBC Chicago.
For weeks, loved ones searched for answers.
Then, on June 17, authorities reportedly found the bodies of Mawani and Ortiz in a mass grave containing four people in a wooded area on a property in La Marquesa, in Ocoyoacac, on the outskirts of Mexico City, according to Infobae. A human limb was also reportedly found nearby.
Mawani’s family identified the couple as two of the victims on Wednesday, June 24, according to the Associated Press and ABC7 Chicago. A family friend also confirmed their deaths on GoFundMe.
“We are aware of reports circulating regarding Zafar and Guillermo,” a family spokesperson said in a statement to ABC7. “We are in direct contact with authorities to confirm accurate information. We ask for patience and privacy for the family during this time.”
The two other victims are believed to be a married couple, ages 56 and 38, according to Infobae. They have not yet been publicly identified.
Authorities have arrested five people in connection with the discovery of the four bodies, including a former police officer identified as Yesenia V., who is alleged to be the leader of a kidnapping and robbery gang, according to Infobae.
Four other suspects were allegedly found with ammunition, narcotics and a black suitcase.
Two additional men, identified in reports as Gabriel M. and Roberick, both of Venezuelan origin, were also reportedly arrested in connection with the couple’s disappearance and killing.
DNA testing is being conducted to identify all four bodies, Infobae reported, citing the city’s Attorney General’s Office. Authorities have not publicly confirmed the identities of all victims.
Several agencies assisted in the search, including the Attorney General’s Office of Mexico City, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Missing Persons, the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, and the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office.
The deaths of Mawani and Ortiz have left their family and friends devastated after weeks of hoping the couple would be found alive.
What began as a simple trip to buy a chairlift for a loved one ended in a horrifying discovery on the outskirts of Mexico City.
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Before the weekend ends and America moves on to the next headline, we need to pause and look at a story that matters more than almost any other—the collapse of Venezuela, and what it warns us about if the last democratic superpower ever falls the same way.
This didn’t happen overnight. It happened step by step, over one generation.
VENEZUELA: HOW A PROSPEROUS NATION COLLAPSED
1992 Venezuela is the 3rd richest country in the Western Hemisphere, powered by oil and a growing middle class.
1997 Venezuelans become the 2nd largest buyers of Ford F-150s—a sign of widespread prosperity.
1998 Hugo Chávez is elected, promising to “redistribute wealth” and fix inequality.
2001 The country votes again for socialism, framed as compassion and fairness.
2003 The government imposes price controls and currency controls. Black markets appear. Shortages begin.
2004 Private healthcare is fully socialized.
2006 Inflation rises sharply as massive welfare programs expand without real economic backing.
2007 All higher education becomes “free.”
2008 Key industries—oil services, steel, cement, telecom—are nationalized. Production drops almost immediately.
2009 Private gun ownership is banned.
2010 The currency is devalued by 50%, crushing savings and accelerating inflation.
2011 Oil production begins a steady decline due to mismanagement and lack of investment.
2012 American politicians, like Bernie Sanders, publicly praise Venezuela’s model.
2013 Chávez dies. Nicolás Maduro takes power and tightens state control.
2014 Opposition leaders are arrested or silenced.
2015 GDP collapses. Hyperinflation begins.
2016 Severe food and medical shortages spread nationwide.
2017 The constitution is suspended. Elections are no longer meaningful.
2018 Inflation exceeds 1,000,000%. Maduro “wins” a widely fraudulent election.
2019 Unarmed civilians are killed by their own government.
2020 More than 8 million people flee the country to escape hunger and repression.
2023 Minor economic improvements fail to relieve mass poverty.
2024 Disputed elections trigger protests and global isolation.
2026 Maduro is removed by force. Venezuela is liberated after decades of ruin.
THE HARD TRUTH
It took one generation of “progressive” leadership to turn one of the richest countries on Earth into a nation defined by hunger, fear, mass graves, and mass migration.
This is the lesson history keeps teaching:
You can vote your way into socialism. But history shows people only escape it through collapse, violence, or foreign intervention.
And here is the part Americans must understand clearly:
If this happens in the United States, there will be nobody coming to save us.
No outside superpower. No rescue force. No second chance.
Freedom is fragile. Prosperity is not guaranteed. And once lost, they are brutally hard to recover.
Venezuela’s people paid the price. America cannot afford to learn this lesson the same way.
-Larry Brandt