4 victims in Florida had moved from Texas

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- Yessica Guerrero Escobedo and José Luís Escobedo were high school sweethearts who fell in love and married, a relative said. Recently, the couple packed up their two children and left their Texas home, headed for Florida in search of a new life.

``Everybody loves them. They would do anything for anybody. There's not enough words -- they were just funny, caring, very lovely people," said Lisa Salazar, a relative in Brownsville, Texas.

Yesterday, authorities were trying to figure out how they were fatally shot along the Florida Turnpike in Port St. Lucie, about 100 miles north of Miami.

The body of Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, 25, was found Friday clutching her two sons in an apparent effort to protect them. Her husband, who would have turned 29 yesterday, was found nearby.

Salazar said the couple, who had been married for three years, did not have any enemies. She showed photos of the family, including the 3- and 4-year-old sons, at a news conference. They had hoped to return to Brownsville for Christmas, she said.

Investigators were watching 480 hours of tapes from tollbooths hoping to spot any clues to lead to the suspects. Bullets found at the scene also were being analyzed to see whether the same kind had been used in other crimes.

Investigators say their vehicle, a 1998 four-door Jeep Cherokee, had pulled to the side of the highway before someone else in the vehicle shot them and drove away between 1:30 and 3 a.m. Authorities were searching for the vehicle yesterday, Sheriff Ken Mascara said.

A motive for the shootings was not yet known. Authorities said the victims and the shooter may have known each other, and investigators were not treating the crime as a carjacking.

A search warrant was issued for the family's home in Greenacres in Palm Beach County, where they had moved in June from the Brownsville, Texas, area.

Their white stucco single-story house looked yesterday as though the family was still settling in. The living room was devoid of furniture, except for a bean bag chair on the white tile floor.

Mascara said Friday that the mother and father had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Formal autopsy results are not expected until tomorrow, according to the medical examiner's office. Seven other law enforcement agencies around the country were involved in the investigation, Mascara said, adding that there had been about 200 phone calls offering tips.