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US Border Patrol Agent Suspected Of Killing 4 Women, Abducting A 5th

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LAREDO, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Texas has been arrested on suspicion of having killed four women and abducted a fifth.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said at a news conference that the agent, Juan David Ortiz, was arrested early Saturday morning.

The county's district attorney, Isidro Alaniz, says authorities were led to Ortiz after a woman he tried to kidnap escaped from him. Ortiz fled from state troopers and hid in the parking lot of a Laredo hotel, where he was arrested.

Alaniz is describing Ortiz as a "serial killer."

Alaniz says his office plans to charge Ortiz with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the killings.

Authorities didn't disclose the victims' names or nationalities but said they may have been prostitutes. They also declined to discuss the evidence or say how the women were killed.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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