The homicide investigation for Christian Quezada is still continuing after his body was found in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“He was killed in the most tragic, horrific, and inhumane way,” said one of Quezada’s closest friends from high school. “The conditions that his body was left did not match what the police said at first.”
The family had to put pressure on the police and speak with the mayor before Quezada’s death was investigated as a homicide.
Quezada had been renting a room at an AirBnB. He was preparing to come home after hearing news of his father’s passing just on that Friday, July 16, but his body was found on a beach on Sunday, July 18, that was an hour away from the main island, said the friend.
The friend recalls receiving news of Quezada’s passing from one of their mutual friends, who sent out a link from a news article. They had known each other since 2002, Quezada’s friend said.
“That’s when my world fell apart. It has been a hard pill to swallow,” Quezada’s friend said. “I remember him as a good, caring man, full of life and a best friend we all could have. He was the caretaker of his father full-time and had been doing so for the last 18 months.”
Currently, the police have no suspects or leads into the murder. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to pay for the shipping of the body from Puerto Rico to Texas and funeral arrangements. At the time of this interview, they are still waiting for Quezada’s body to be released to them.
Quezada’s death brought his friend back into contact with people who hadn’t spoken to each other in years and introduced an opportunity to reflect on and appreciate life.
“I think that the biggest lesson that his passing has been teaching us, even though we’re still trying to digest his passing, is that family should always stick together and if you have friends, you are never alone and we gotta care about each other,” Quezada’s friend said. “We always think that we know what’s there, what’s tomorrow and I feel that unfortunately with his passing, it is to show us that tomorrow may never come.”
“Life is just too short to be lived by short moments where we don’t have time for anything, and we forget the most important people in our lives,” said his friend.
Donations can be sent to Quezada’s GoFundMe page.
The friend also said Quezada’s murder has brought attention to the fact of how many people, including tourists, are killed in Puerto Rico each year. In April, a 24-year-old man was burned to death while visiting the island after buying drugs and taking pictures after repeated warnings not to.
The family wanted to raise awareness about this trend and included information about it at the end of Christian’s GoFundMe page.
“Help us solve Christian’s murder and to also put an end on tourist’s [sic] killing at the so-called ‘Fantasy Island,’” they wrote.