TIJUANA (Border Report) — While on his way to work earlier this month, Roberto’s dogs began barking and running through some brush. He followed them and discovered the bodies of two toddlers lying in a pool of blood at the base of a small tree.
The discovery happened on a ranch about an hour south of Tijuana, Mexico.
The children, a boy named Kaleo, almost 3 years old and his sister Roxy, 11 months old, had been killed.
Investigators in Baja California said the bodies showed numerous puncture wounds. And at first, it was believed the siblings had been stabbed to death with some sort of wooden stake.
The FBI says the children were killed by their father, Matthew Taylor Coleman.
Coleman and his wife own and operate a surfing school in Santa Barbara, Calif., about a three-hour drive north of the border.
At his arraignment, prosecutors introduced evidence claiming Coleman had admitted to murdering his children with a speargun because he thought they would grow up to be monsters after inheriting serpent DNA from their mother.
Coleman also told investigators he was “enlightened” by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories, a complaint affidavit alleges.
There is video of him checking into a hotel in Rosarito, Mexico with his children. Other images show him departing the hotel with the kids, then returning without them before checking out of the hotel.
Coleman’s wife had reported him and the children missing to the Santa Barbara Police Department.
As he tried to enter the United States, agents stopped him at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
That same morning, reports surfaced about the bodies of two small American toddlers in diapers found by a field worker who turned out to be Roberto.
“Every day since then has been sad,” he said. “Every day is difficult and I can’t sleep at night.”
Roberto told Border Report he is haunted by the images he saw.
“I thank God and pray for the children so he gives me strength to be able to cope and find some peace,” he said
As a way to honor Kaleo and Roxy, Roberto and his family made two wooden crosses with the children’s names on them.
Using a rock, he pounded the crosses into the dirt at the place where he found the bodies. He also sprinkled some holy water and said a prayer.
“I feel as if they were part of my family, I think about them all the time,” said Roberto, adding he would like to meet the mother of the children, inviting her to visit the site.
He said at some point, he wants to come back and create a concrete base for the crosses so they don’t wash away during a storm.
“It’s been really difficult, I fear walking around and finding someone else,” Roberto said.
As for Coleman, Roberto can’t understand why anyone would harm a child.
Coleman is due back in court on Aug. 31.
Prosecutors in Mexico had said they would seek extradition to try Coleman in Mexico.
But federal prosecutors in Los Angeles say they will try Coleman in the U.S. under extraterritorial jurisdiction law that allows the prosecution of individuals for crimes against Americans abroad.