Illegal immigrants beaten, held hostage

DALE, Texas (KXAN) - Some two dozen illegal immigrants were smuggled across the border, beaten and held at gunpoint in Bastrop County.

One of the victims who escaped and was found sleeping in a neighbor's truck, lead authorities to the mobile home in Dale off FM 672, near Lockhart, where he says the abuse was going on.

The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office called in customs agents and human trafficking officials before busting into the mobile home Wednesday afternoon. They found seven victims total, stripped down to their underwear.

The immigrants, smuggled from El Salvador and Honduras, told investigators they had been held hostage for four days. They were beaten and had not had food or water in three days.

Nabor Rodriguez-Gillen, 20, and Juan Carlos Sanchez-Camacho, 29, were arrested and charged with seven counts of aggravated kidnapping. Investigators believe some of the immigrants escaped. Others were taken by van somewhere else before they arrived, including three women the victims said were sexually assaulted.

The woman who owns the mobile home said a man who was looking for a place to rent moved in Sunday, and asked if a couple of his friends could sleep there, too. He said he would help her fix up the house. She claims to have to clue what was going on.

Investigators are still looking for a third suspect. The seven male victims were taken to a shelter where they were clothed and fed.