A Guatemalan couple who were separated by US deportation have been found dead in a sugarcane field in southwestern Guatemala, with their 1-year-old daughter discovered alive beside their bodies, authorities said.
The victims were identified as Nixon Giovanni Perez, 43, and Glendy Marisol Gonzalez, 25, according to reports reviewed by Reuters. The couple were found with their hands tied behind their backs in a field outside Retalhuleu, about 112 miles (180 km) west of Guatemala City.
Distance from the discovery site to Guatemala City
Perez had fled violence and poverty in Guatemala and was deported from the US last year, according to his brother Rolando. Gonzalez voluntarily returned to Guatemala in recent weeks to join him. The couple had been reported missing the previous week.
Rolando told St. Louis Public Radio that Perez and his brother were detained by immigration agents in Overland, Missouri, on their way to roofing jobs. The Missouri Workers Center, where Gonzalez was a member of an immigrants' rights organizing committee, will hold a vigil on Sunday for the couple.
Glendy made the impossible decision to go back to Guatemala.
The couple's infant daughter and two other children have been placed in the care of relatives, the prosecutor's office stated. Representatives for ICE and Overland police did not respond to requests for comment.
The killings come amid a surge in deportations to Guatemala. According to UN data, nearly 32,000 people were deported to Guatemala in the first six months of 2026, a 47% increase from the same period last year. More than 90% of deportees were from the US.
Guatemala's government attributes a wave of murders that spiked over the last week to organized crime. On Monday, the government announced a plan to strengthen security measures. The incident also occurs as President Donald Trump's administration continues its large-scale deportation campaign.