An Influencer and Her Family Were Found Dead in Their Truck in an Alleged Cartel-Style Hit
Authorities believe Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay's husband was the intended target.
Published Sept. 3 2025, 5:17 p.m. ET
In January 2025, The Fader spoke with Rafael Acosta Morales, an Associate Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies at the University of North Carolina, about the uptick in threats from Mexican cartels regarding narcocorridos.
This Regional Mexican corrido subgenre exclusively focuses on drug cartels, drug trafficking, and violence, and grew in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s when drug traffickers like Pablo Escobar were akin to folklore heroes.
Morales went on to say that this type of music provides a rich fantasy life for people who long to have power and money. It doesn't matter if you're making this music or consuming it. Speaking of which, some people believe the murder of a TikTok influencer and her family could have something to do with narcocorridos.
What happened to Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay? Here's what we know.
What happened to Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay?
According to The Latin Times, authorities found the bodies of Garibay, her husband, and their two children, wrapped in plastic in the bed of their pickup truck. The abandoned vehicle was spotted in Guadalajara, on Jorge Delorme Street, on Aug. 22, 2025.
Police identified them as 32-year-old Garibary, 36-year-old Roberto Carlos Gil Licea, 13-year-old Gael Santiago, and 7-year-old Regina. Police confirmed the family had recently relocated to Guadalajara.
Reports of Garibay's love of narcocorridos quickly began spreading online. She grew her social media following on TikTok after doing lip-syncing videos, some of which were to narcocorridos.
Despite this, authorities believe Garibay and her family were allegedly targeted due to her husband's involvement in vehicle trading and tomato farming in Michoacán, where they previously lived.
Garibay and her family were killed in an autobody shop.
Using Ministry of Security and National Guard data, along with CCTV footage of the area where the truck was located, authorities traced the vehicle's previous location to a nearby mechanic shop. After raising the workshop, investigators found bloodstains, spent bullet casings, and ballistic evidence that suggested Garibay and her family were killed in the shop, then moved to the truck.
This was confirmed in a statement by prosecutor Alfonso Gutiérrez Santillán to Diario de Yucatán.
Two workers from the mechanic shop were taken into custody by police. Héctor Manuel Valdivia Martínez and a suspect nicknamed "El Chino" were later released.
The two were abducted by an armed group of individuals who also kidnapped two of their relatives. Three remain missing after El Chino escaped.
Prosecutor Blanca Trujillo suspected the armed mercenaries had been watching the police station.