Missing Bay Area Man Found Murdered

By Bill Johnson Published Jun 13, 2002 12:50 pm Updated Jan 31, 2009 05:27 pm

A San Ramon man who vanished over the weekend in El Salvador has been found murdered.

The body of 68 year old Mauricio Gonzalez was found today near the beach town of Miralvalle, about 50 miles southeast of the capital of San Salvador. Police there say it appears he was strangled.

Gonzalez vanished from his vacation home on Saturday. He was scheduled to pick up his wife Kathleen at the airport a few hours after he vanished. A ransom call was received – but Police Director Mauricio Sandoval says it now appears he may have interrupted a burglary and was slain.

Gonzalez was the fourth U.S. citizen kidnapped in El Salvador since January of 2000. The State Department said the other cases were resolved. The FBI is helping Salvadoran police track the killers.