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58-year-old Elias Gudino was taken into custody and arrested on Saturday after he was suspected of being connected to three murders. Three dead bodies of the men who were fatally shot were recovered at two different scenes in Copley and Akron on Friday.
Police believe the men were kidnapped and shot while they were gagged and restrained. However, they are still trying to figure out the reason for the kidnapping and the chain of events that possibly led to the victims’ deaths. The identities of the three victims are yet to be determined.
Law enforcement officials claimed that these are “isolated” incidents and that the public at large is not in any danger.
Elias Gudino was arrested in connection with the three dead bodies found on Friday, and currently faces several charges
Police made gruesome discoveries in Copley and Akron on Friday, when they recovered the bodies of three dead men. The men were found bound and gagged, and also had gunshot wounds. The Copley Police Department stated in a press release:
“On Friday, March 10, 2023, at about 8:50 AM, the Copley Police Dispatch Center received a call reporting a body lying adjacent to the roadway in the 2100 block of Wright Road.”
They further mentioned:
“Copley police officers arrived on the scene and discovered a deceased adult Hispanic male who had been bound and gagged. The male was lying close to the edge of the roadway and appeared to have been dumped there sometime overnight.”
Authorities also added that they located the suspect, Elias Gudino, on Friday and arrested him the very next day. According to them, the bodies found on Friday were not far from each other. Two bodies were recovered from a wooded area by the side of the road. A passer-by spotted the remains near Cordova Avenue and called 911. The third body was located just 2 miles away.
Copley and Akron police published a joint statement, saying:
“Police believe this was an isolated incident and that the public at large was not in any danger. We do not believe that the public should have any concern for their safety at this time. Police believe that the males had likely been kidnapped from outside this area and brought to Summit County.”
The reason behind the alleged kidnapping hasn’t been discovered yet, and authorities are yet to identify how the victims ended up this way. Copley Police Chief Michael Mier confirmed Elias Gudino’s arrest on Saturday. As per News 5 Cleveland, he further mentioned that the 58-year-old man currently faces charges of one count of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder.
The news release further addressed the murders and said:
“[Victims were] kidnapped from outside this area and brought to Summit County.”
Police later had a search warrant executed and arrested Gudino from his residence on Henetta Avenue.
Gudino was connected to a drug ring and has been involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s
After digging into Elias Gudino’s past records, investigators revealed that Gudino once owned a grocery store in the 1400 block of Copley Road, along with La Michoacana Taqueria. It was further discovered that Gudino came to the US from Mexico back in the 1980s.
According to court records, in 2010, Gudino was convicted of being related to a national drug ring and was sentenced to 150 months in jail with a five-year probation period. As per Meaww, the ring was called the “Elias Gudino Drug Trafficking Organization.” Gudino had been involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s. His operation was primarily based in the southern part of Mexico, however, he expanded across Oklahoma, Colorado, and several other states in the US.
In 2010, police found around eight kilograms of cocaine in a hidden compartment in his car after he was pulled over. Along with Elias Gudino, another man was also supposedly present in the vehicle at the time. He pleaded guilty to two federal charges, which included drug trafficking.
In November 2017, Gudino was released and remained on probation through May 2022. Police mentioned that they would release further information about the murder case after they gain more details through the ongoing investigation.
