COPLEY, Ohio — Copley police released an update Monday on the three killings that took place more than a week ago both in the township as well as in Akron, saying they now "believe there are more suspects in this case."
Fifty-eight-year-old Elias Gudino has already been arrested and charged for the murders of Youngstown natives Domingo Castillo-Reyes, Inmer Reyes, and Victor Valera-Rodriguez. Reyes and Valera-Rodriguez were found bound, gagged, and shot to death along Cordova Avenue in Akron on March 10, while Castillo-Rodriguez's body was located in a similar state within the 2100 block of Wright Road in Copley.
Authorities also confirmed last week a fourth "intended victim" survived the killing spree and was located near Collier Road, and we are now getting a clearer picture of what he alleged happened. Through a translator, the unidentified male told officers he and the three others had been kidnapped from the Youngstown area and driven to Greater Akron. When the suspects shot and killed Castillo-Rodriguez on Wright Road, they also allegedly fired at the fourth man but missed, and he "played dead" until the kidnappers left the area.
Hours after the bodies were located, members of the Copley Police Department drove around the area with the surviving victim, and at a gas station on Copley Road he saw Gudino and identified him as one of the kidnappers. Detectives took Gudino to the police station and, following the discovery of "additional evidence," arrested him for the murder of Castillo-Rodriguez as well as the attempted murder of the fourth man.
Officials say more charges against Gudino and others are "pending" and that they "are pursuing several leads and tips" in connection with the homicides. However, no additional arrests have been made at this time, and investigators have not said if they know who the other suspects are.
Gudino is currently being held without bond in the Summit County Jail, with a review hearing set for Wednesday morning in Barberton Municipal Court. The Akron native previously served time in federal prison for running a cocaine ring out of his hometown.
