correction: Story corrected to say Exactly one year ago today instead of one month ago.
Exactly one year ago today, the bodies of 35-year-old Isabel Cuellar and 51-year old Jesus Gomez were found burned in a field in Robstown. The crime remains unsolved. Gomez’s sister and son continue asking for help finding the killer.
February 3, 2018, is a day Joanne Vela and Brian Gomez will never forget. Around 8:30 that morning, a passerby reported a fire coming from a field at palm tree ranch in Robstown.
After putting out the flames, firefighters discovered the burned bodies of Isabel Cuellar and Jesus Gomez.
That night Brian Gomez, Jesus’ son, reported his father missing after finding blood inside his dad’s trailer home on Up River Road. Investigators say the two were murdered there and their bodies were taken to Robstown and set on fire. Joann Vela, Jesus’ sister, describes the moment she found out her brother was killed.
“I was in shock and then having to go and tell my mom that’s been ill for over a year, having to go tell her that her only son is no longer with us, she has since blocked it out,” says Joanne.
Joanne says Jesus was her only brother. He lived for his kids, always tried to help anyone in need and loved to joke around. The family still feels the pain a year after his death and there’s still no arrest.
“It sucks that I am a young man but my brother is a child. It sucks to have to tell my brother how to shave, how to do stuff that a father and son have to learn,” Jesus’ son, Brian tells KZTV10, “He has to come to me and say ‘you’re what I have, can you teach me how to do this.?’ And he’s a smart kid. He knows dad’s not coming back.”
Crime Stoppers is offering up to $2,500 in cash to the person who can tip police off to who is responsible for this murder.
“If anybody is out there and they know something, even if you think it’s not important, reach out and call the police department and let them know. You might think it’s something small but it might help,” says Joanne Vela, “No person deserves to die the way my brother did. We don’t want anybody else to go through what we’re going through. We don’t want that.”
Crimestoppers: 888-TIPS
