Murder of North Texas couple targeted by cartel member continues to haunt family 18 years later

DALLAS — The case of Linoshka Torres and Luis Campos remains one of the most troubling stories in Dallas in nearly two decades.

On January 6, 2007, the young couple was kidnapped from an Oak Cliff neighborhood. One of the kidnappers had ties to the notorious Gulf Cartel. Their abduction, murder and the subsequent handling of the case by law enforcement continue to haunt their families.

“It’s been 18 years… it isn’t easy,” said Linoshka’s sister, Rachael Torres, fighting back tears.

Torres and Campos, 19 and 20 years old at the time, had gone to check on their vehicle at a mechanic’s home in Oak Cliff when they were taken by three men. Police later determined the kidnappers were seeking revenge for a burglary at the home of Nicolas Monarrez. Authorities believe the couple had no connection to the crime but were scapegoats.

“I have no idea why they were pointed out,” Rachael said. “I think they were just an easy target because they were there that day.”

The mechanic’s son later admitted to police that he saw the men approaching the couple but never called 911.

When officers arrived at the home, the couple’s belongings—including their phones and car keys—were still in their vehicle. But police dismissed the case, telling the family they could do little because Torres and Campos were adults.

“They wouldn’t take the report because they weren’t missing for 48 hours,” Rachael said.

Family members say police suggested the couple had run off on their own or were out partying, despite the fact that Torres was five months pregnant and the couple had planned to attend a family dinner that night.

Three days later, with no action from law enforcement, the family launched their own search and reached out to local media.

“I actually believe someone took them,” Rachael said the night of the search. “I don’t know what the reason is or anything.”

Weeks later, the bodies of Torres, Campos, and their unborn child were found under a bridge off Dowdy Ferry Road in southern Dallas County. The couple had been stripped of their clothing and suffered severe trauma.

Authorities later revealed that the couple had been tortured, electrocuted, beaten with a bat, and held hostage in a shed before being murdered. Prosecutors said Monarrez choked Torres using his hands, tape, and a plastic bag.

“Yeah, all the stuff that they said that they did to them, it’s just heartbreaking,” Rachael said. “Thinking that somebody can do that to two little kids… It’s just hard to understand that somebody can do that to another human being.”

Shortly after the bodies were found, police arrested Frank Estrella and Jorge Banda, who assisted in the kidnapping. Monarrez, the man accused of carrying out the murders, fled to Mexico but was caught in July 2012 while trying to cross the border near El Paso.

However, legal complications soon followed. Prosecutors were forced to cut a deal with Monarrez after his confession was ruled inadmissible.

“So we’ve got a call like at the last minute, ‘Oh yeah, we’re doing a plea deal and he’s getting 15 years.’ Fifteen years for three people that, you know, they killed,” Torres said.

Estrella also received a 15-year sentence but served only five years before being paroled in 2017. He later disappeared, and authorities have been unable to locate him. Banda received a life sentence.

But in a shocking turn, Monarrez never served time for the murders. Alongside his murder charges, he was also convicted on federal narcotics charges, serving 10 years in prison. Once released, he was supposed to be transferred to the Texas Department of Corrections to serve his 15-year sentence for the murders. Due to a paperwork error between prosecutors and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, he was instead deported to Mexico—never spending a single day in a Texas prison for the killings.

“And it’s just hard… to live and continue and nothing happens, you know,” Torres said, breaking down in tears.

With Monarrez free in Mexico and Estrella still unaccounted for, the family continues to live in fear.

They remain hopeful that U.S. and Mexican authorities will find the two men and bring them to justice.

Eighteen years later, the pain remains fresh. And for the families of Torres and Campos, justice is still out of reach.