SAN ANTONIO – On the eve of the first anniversary of Guadalupe Cantu’s murder, his mother is pleading for help in finding out who did it.
Because the killer is still at large, she asked that her identity be concealed.
Since it’s still an active case, San Antonio police would only say that Cantu appeared to have suffered blunt force trauma to his head. The mother said her youngest son, the 37-year-old father and grandfather who worked construction, was left unrecognizable.
Cantu’s mother said she wanted to see his body but was told what no parent wants to hear.
“They told me to remember him as he looked like, instead of how they left him,” she said.
She said his body was discovered by a homeless person behind a vacant building in the 3300 block of South Flores Street on the morning of Oct. 14, 2016.
“They ripped my heart out. I can’t accept it. I can’t be at peace. I am full of anger,” she said. “For someone to have done this or commit this act has to have been very cold-blooded.”
Cantu’s mother said her son had been in trouble with the law in the past, the last time being in 2010. Public records show Cantu faced a variety of charges, from theft to burglary of a vehicle to marijuana possession.
Still, she said, her son never said anything about having problems with anyone.
“He was a hard worker,” she said. “He was well-liked.”
“What could he have done for these people to have done this to him?” she asked.
His mother said she believes since her son was nearly 6 feet tall and weighed about 200 pounds, it would have taken several people to subdue him. She said she’s struggled with not knowing who killed him or why he was so brutally murdered.
“I know somebody knows. I know they know,” she said. “All I ask is to please help me find out who did this.”
Anyone with information can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.