Central American migrants, especially unaccompanied minors, traveling north through Mexico on the freight train colloquially known as "The Beast" were repeatedly assisted by two male aid workers, Adrian Rodriguez Garcia and Wilson Castro -- both who were recently murdered in Mexico.

Earlier this year, Castro and Garcia foiled gang members' plans to kidnap migrants at the train tracks. Castro held onto one of the suspected kidnappers, while Garcia called for the police. After giving their statements to the police, both men began receiving death threats. The men had been promised police protection, but none was provided to them, according to Jorge Andrade and other human rights workers.

Castro and Garcia were known for their criticism of corrupt police who extorted migrants, and they were vocal about organized criminal gangs that robbed and kidnapped migrants. While the men were routinely near the train tracks and never difficult to find, there were no witnesses to their deaths. And police offered no comment on the double homicide, not even to the local press.

Adrian Garcia, routinely called "La Polla" or "Mother Hen," would hike far from his place of living to serve meals to thousands of migrants, predominately from Central America. He offered hot coffee and sweet bread to travelers near the central town of Huehuetoca, rain or shine.

He began feeding people 35 miles north of Mexico City 10 years ago, helping them move across the border because he saw migrants suffer and he saw that their feet were destroyed by walking long distances.

Garcia found it important to help all in need and once told Carrie Kahn, NPR's international correspondent based in Mexico City, Mexico, "We are all human beings, the only thing different about us is that we come from different countries."

As a transvestite who covered his long, dyed light red hair with bright headbands, and wore painted nails and sparkling rings, Garcia, too, felt like an outsider. Then, two years ago, a Honduran by the name of Wilson Castro jumped off the train at Huehuetoca and decided to stay with Garcia. Castro was quieter and less flamboyant than Garcia but just as committed.

"I'm also a migrant," Castro said to Kahn. "I know how much they suffer along the trip north -- some die falling off the train or lose limbs, I've seen it all."

The two men didn't have a lot to offer passersby, but they were able to hand out hot tortillas, a slice of cheese, beans and lighthearted jokes. They offered migrant workers comfort after many faced abuse in Mexico's overcrowded migrant detention facilities, where gang members often robbed and extorted them.

Sunday, Nov. 22, Garcia and Castro handed out evening meals and then drove back to their home, according to Andrade. They were in their car outside of their home when members of Garcia's family heard gunshots.

Garcia received gun shots to the head and heart and died instantly. Castro was shot in the heart and lungs, and he died a day later. Police have not issued a statement about the murder or the fact that authorities have long known about the criminal gangs who operate in the region.

Castro's body was sent home to his family in Honduras. Garcia was buried Tuesday, Nov. 25, in the small cemetery that wasn't too far from his home or the train tracks.

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