What Happened to Shane Pennington?
UPDATE: TIJUANA: The mother of a 19-year-old North Carolina man found stabbed to death on a beach formally identified her son's body yesterday. “Who, who did this to my son?” Elizabeth Taylor asked. “Why? Why did this happen?”
Shane Pennington was found dead two weeks ago. He had moved from North Carolina and was living in Orange County.
Baja California authorities said yesterday that Pennington had marijuana, cocaine and alcohol in his system when he was killed. A refrigerated meat delivery truck, which Pennington was last seen driving the day before his body was found, remained missing. The 2004 Ford Ranger belonged to Pennington's Orange County employer and contained 109 boxes of meat worth close to $3,000.
Salvador Ortiz, assistant attorney general for Baja California, said investigators ruled out involvement of organized crime.
Taylor said her son told friends that he was heading for work when he drove off about 1:15 p.m. March 23. He was not heard from again. His body was found at 6:10 a.m. March 24.
A U.S. law enforcement source, who requested anonymity because he wasn't an authorized spokesman, said license plate readers at the border had recorded the truck driving into Mexico at San Ysidro about 7:30 p.m. March 23. Three hours earlier, cameras had caught the truck heading north from Tijuana into San Diego, suggesting that an initial crossing into Mexico had not been not recorded. –S.D.