TikTok content creator Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, her husband and their two young children, a boy and a girl, were found slain on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Jalisco Attorney General's Office reported.

An investigation is underway after the bodies of a TikTok influencer and three of her family members were found in western Mexico, prosecutors announced.

TikTok content creator Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, her husband, and their two young children, a boy and a girl, were found slain on Friday, Aug. 22, in the San Andrés neighborhood of Guadalajara, the Jalisco Attorney General's Office said in a news release.

Ferrer Garibay, known as Esmeralda FG on TikTok, was 32, according to prosecutors. Her husband was 36, her son was 13 and her daughter was 6, the attorney general's office said.

The family lived south of Jalisco in the Mexican state of Michoacán, where prosecutors said the influencer's husband, Licea Garibay, sold cars.

Mexican national daily newspaper El Financiero reported that Licea Garibay also farmed tomatoes in nearby Michoacán.

Here is what we know so far about the case.

Who was Esmerelda Ferrer Garibay?

According to Ferrer Garibay's TikTok profile, she had nearly 50,000 followers as of Wednesday, Sept. 3.

The influencer posted lifestyle videos showing off her travels, her family and designer items, including Labubus.

In her final post on Thursday, Aug. 7, Ferrer Garibay is seen driving a car coupled with a message about her “dirt road neighborhood.”

Nearly 3.3 million people had viewed the post as of Wednesday, Sept. 3.

Bodies found wrapped in plastic at mechanic's shop

Ferrer Garibay and her family's bodies were found abandoned at a mechanic's shop, and the violence did not appear to be directed at the TikToker, but rather her husband, the prosecutor's office said in the release.

Citing the Jalisco Attorney General's Office, newspaper El Universal reported the bodies had been wrapped in plastic and found inside a late-model truck.

“The scene was processed, and investigators found multiple pieces of evidence suggesting the family was killed there,” the office's deputy prosecutor, Alfonso Gutiérrez Santillán, said after the bodies were found, per the outlet. “While the forensic results are not yet in, ballistic and blood evidence almost certainly confirm they were murdered at that location.”

Mexican officials hunt for killers in Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay slaying case

A preliminary investigation included a search of the mechanic's shop where the truck was found with the bodies inside, officials said.

The site is currently under the protection of authorities, and experts from the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (IJCF), who are working to gather evidence and incorporate it into the investigation file, according to the prosecutor's office.

Investigators from the Specialized Investigation Unit for Intentional Homicides of the Jalisco Attorney General's Office were working with the Jalisco Security Secretary, the National Guard, and other Mexican federal agencies to hunt the killers, the prosecutor's office said.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: TikTok influencer found slain with husband, 2 young children in Mexico

Reporting by Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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