Church Pastor, Child Trafficker: The Crimes of Elsa Cuellar in a Border Town

Since the early 1990s, Elsa Cuellar was able to operate in a way that left no trail. She would pose as a pastor, doctor, or lawyer to win the trust of her young victims. With the promise of a better life, citizenship, and education, these young girls were lured into the clutches of Cuellar's claws where they became the source of her wealth. This in itself made her money, but the true motive was to ensure these young girls got pregnant. By posing as a doctor or midwife, Cuellar would convince the young girls that having the baby at her home was the most sanitary and natural way to give birth. Unknown to the girls, the objective was to have a delivery that would not be on record at a hospital. This made her underground baby-selling enterprise easier. After all, who would look for a baby no one knows exists? Once Cuellar delivered the sad news to the young girls that the baby died during birth, her mission was complete.