Family: California school board member kidnapped, shot to death in Mexico

Family: Calif. school board member slain in Mexico

EL MONTE, Calif. — A Southern California school board member was abducted and killed by gunmen while visiting family in Mexico for the holidays, his family said.

Augustin Roberto “Bobby” Salcedo, 33, was found dead Thursday in the northern state of Durango by Mexican authorities, his brother Carlos Salcedo said.

El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero called Salcedo “an absolute bright, shining star in our community.”

Salcedo and his wife were out to dinner Wednesday with friends in the city of Gomez Palacio when gunmen stormed the restaurant and forced people to the floor.

Salcedo and five other men were abducted. All six were found shot dead Thursday, El Monte officials said. Salcedo’s wife was not abducted.

“From all accounts right now, it sounds random,” Carlos Salcedo told the Los Angeles Times. “There is no reason for my brother to be targeted.”

Bobby Salcedo was re-elected in November to a second term on the board of the El Monte City School District.

He was also the assistant principal of instruction at El Monte High School and had been completing work on a doctorate in educational leadership at UCLA.

He and his wife, Betzy, a physician, had arrived in Gomez Palacio earlier this week. The city of 240,000 is her hometown.