Crime Line paid $10,000 for the tip that led to finding the body of Mark Ysasaga near 120th Street and Highway 87 on June 6. Mark was 15-years-old when he disappeared in June of 2012.
On Thursday, Jim Sexton with Crime Line said the money was paid for the Mark Ysasaga case on June 6 — four days before the Lubbock County Chief Medical Examiner Sridhar Natarajan officially confirmed Mark’s identity through dental records.
A portion of the $10,000 reward, $2,500, was raised by Mark’s family Sexton said.
In May the case changed from missing person to murder, and police charged Jose Simental with murder. Later a person of interest in the case was identified as Christian Castro, 19.
Castro was accused of an aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping incident on the morning of June 4. He was arrested at 3:04 pm on June 5 at 41st Street and University Avenue.
Within an hour of his arrest, police publicly called him a “person of interest” for the first time. Online jail records never showed him being booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on June 5 or afterward.
Police would later say a Crime Line tip was received on the evening of June 5 and the body was discovered on June 6.
On the afternoon of June 6 – the same day as the Crime Line money was paid – Castro posted a picture of money on his Facebook page and said “Count ya blessings.”
Castro has posted pictures of large stacks of cash on more than one occasion on his Facebook page. The June 6 picture has since been removed.
Felony charges related to the June 4 incident against Castro were dropped two days after the body was found.
We reached out to Castro at the last number available for him. He has not yet returned the call.
Mark’s family chose not to comment for this story.
However on Tuesday, Mark’s mother, Anna Maria Ysasaga-Cuevas wrote on Facebook, “LPD trying to cover there ass! They make me so mad!”
“If only they would have listened to me from day one,” Ysasaga-Cuevas wrote, “just maybe this wouldn’t have taken 3 years to find my son.”
“I will never be able to hug him or hold his hand one more time,” Ysasaga-Cuevas also wrote.
EverythingLubbock.com invited Lubbock Police to comment, but the invitation was declined.
