American Doctor Found Dead in Reynosa, Tamps

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

The US doctor who went missing in Tamaulipas earlier this month was found dead, with his hands and feet bound. However, because his kidnappers circled back to grab his medical equipment stored at his house, his sister believes he was targeted for being a doctor and used by cartel members to treat a wounded member. 

At 33 years old, Rodolfo was already a graduate of the University of Ciudad Juárez Medical School and he was two and half years into completing his Gynecology residency at the Reynosa General Hospital. Rodolfo Mendoza was a US citizen, originally from Laredo, Texas but he owned a home in Reynosa. 

On August 7, 2021, Rodolfo Isaac Mendoza Andazola Jr. had just finished his shift at the hospital when he received instructions from his immediate boss to go to the hospital in Río Bravo to perform surgery. 

Rodolfo then left for Río Bravo General Hospital in his Ford Fusion car with Texas license plates, traveling alone on the Reynosa-Rio Bravo highway. The next day relatives noticed that he had gone missing and reported his disappearance to police. 

When fellow doctors, nursing staff and friends at his hospital heard he had gone missing, they insisted that Rodolfo was entirely dedicated to his work in medicine and uninvolved in organized crime. They reportedly banded together to further aid investigators in finding Rodolfo as he was a beloved colleague.  

Tamaulipas state police officers reportedly went to Rodolfo’s house in Reynosa where they found that his medical equipment was missing and that his house had been ransacked. His sister Amanda Mendoza later confirmed this saying that in Rodolfo’s house some things were disturbed. In his room all his medical equipment, electronic tools and even gadgets were missing. 

Rodolfo Isaac Mendoza Andazola Jr.

His sister Amanda Mendoza said that the Tamaulipas authorities still do not know what happened and have as their only suspicion that some criminal group grabbed him in order to attend to some possibly injured members of their organization.

Amanda told Milenio newspaper that "The authorities think that maybe he could have been taken to treat someone who was wounded, it is all very strange, there is no trace of him.” 

On August 23, 2021, El Mañana de Reynosa reported that the body of a man was found at 9:30 p.m. in a vacant lot located on the beltway, about 500 meters south of the Ribereña highway. The body had its hands and feet bound. The remains showed evidence of torture as well as gunshot wound to the head. 

Body discovery site on August 23, 2021. 

The remains were wearing blue pants and a gray t-shirt, which reportedly matched the characteristics of the clothes worn by Dr. Rodolfo Mendoza when he was last seen. 

On August 25, 2021, authorities told El Diario in an interview that "The results of the comparison of the sample extracted from the body located on the Anzaldúas highway and the family of the doctor reported missing will be released tomorrow to confirm or rule out that it is the professional," 

Then today, August 26, 2021, authorities confirmed that the two DNA samples matched and the deceased found on the highway was Rodolfo Mendoza. 

Sources: El Manana Article 1, El Manana Article 2, El Diario, La Silla Rota, Milenio