RISING STAR, NOW FALLEN, IS MOURNED

Mountain View High School Remembers Agustin Roberto 'Bobby' Salcedo,
Who Was Killed in Mexico.

The high school football field in El Monte bore all the hallmarks of
a homecoming rally Monday. Thousands of people sat on bleachers
decorated with purple and gold balloons, the colors of the Mountain
View High School Vikings. Music played from loudspeakers and students
raised glow sticks.

It was a celebration of an alumnus' life, but not the sort that
anyone here wanted -- not this way. Agustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo
was slain last week while celebrating the holidays in his wife's
hometown in Mexico. He was a Mountain View alumnus, a proud Viking,
and a former administrator there. He was also an El Monte school
board member and regarded as a rising star.

According to El Monte police, about 5,000 people attended the vigil
at the stadium, which was billed as a celebration of Salcedo's life.

"It's a last goodbye," Angel Aguilera, 16, said as he stood in view
of projected images of Salcedo, "I didn't want to believe this
happened to him."

"I expected a lot of people to come," his friend Edwin Moreno, 16,
said. "He was always a funny guy, trying to make people laugh. But he
was serious when he needed to be."

They recalled the day the former Mountain View High administrator
strutted across a catwalk like a fashion model one day. "Everyone
laughed," Angel said.

"He had a good life, and for it to end like this," he added, his
voice trailing off.

Salcedo, 33, was killed along with five other men after they were
hauled out of a bar in Gomez Palacio in the state of Durango. Salcedo
had adopted the town as his own, helping to raise money for
orphanages and the local Fire Department.

Salcedo's brother, Juan, said he was not surprised by Monday's
turnout. He spoke of continuing his brother's legacy, and about a
foundation created in his name to raise money to send students to
college. But he also spoke about going to Gomez Palacio with his
mother, to see "Bobby," and to bring him home. His brother's body was
expected to arrive Monday night, and the funeral has been scheduled
for Thursday.

During the rally, the Mountain View High student choir sang the Mamas
and the Papas' "California Dreamin'." Four police helicopters flew
overhead in the night sky before one veered off alone to the west.
Amy Minick, a teacher at the school, recalled Salcedo's youthful
exuberance as a student, his ability to rally others, but also his
less serious side.

"He was into sports, but let's face it, he was a nerd and a goofball
too," she said to laughs. "People mattered to Bobby."

Lisette Saucedo, 27, a teacher at South El Monte High School, said
Salcedo had inspired her to that career when he was a young teacher there.

"He was loving, inspirational, always with a smile," she said as her
voice choked. "He always knew how to brighten your day. Always."

"He always had a joke for you," her friend and teacher at Rosemead
High School, Sandra Guerrero, 27, said. "But he was also there to
give you a little push when you needed it."

On the night he died, Salcedo and his wife, Betzy, had ventured out
with a group of her friends. They went to the Iguana Ranas bar on
Miguel Aleman Boulevard, which was only minutes walking distance from
her family home.

About 2 a.m., gunmen burst into the bar and took away Salcedo and the
other men, including one of Betzy's oldest friends, Luis Fernando
Santillan Hernandez, 27, a lawyer, and two of his brothers. Another
victim was Javier Gerardo Garcia Camargo, 28.

They were shot to death and dumped along a canal in a poor
neighborhood called Sept. 11. In an interview with The Times shortly
after the killing, Betzy Salcedo said that like many, she had always
figured that people who had nothing to do with the country's drug war
would not be targets. Investigators in Mexico said that they were
looking into whether any of the people killed with Salcedo had
criminal ties, but so far had found none.

On Monday, Griselda Jefferson, Salcedo's sister, said the timing of
the killing made it especially hard to bring her brother's body back.

"Even the arrangements have been very difficult," she said before the
rally. "Just getting him over here. The holidays made it even worse.
The offices we needed paperwork from were closed."

Betzy Salcedo made a brief statement in a room adjoining the faculty cafeteria.

Behind her, a wall of photos of previous student body presidents
formed a backdrop for television cameras. One of the students -- a
handsome teenager wearing a suit and a smile -- was the man she would
eventually marry.

She said her husband of two years made her feel safe. He kept her
laughing, even when she felt down. He gave her confidence that she
could pursue her dream of being a doctor in this country.

"I'd like for people to remember him as a great educator," the
26-year-old widow said in Spanish. "Bobby was a great leader, an
American citizen, a politician and an educator, and what happened to
him deserves attention at the highest levels of government."

"They took his life and the lives of five other young people with
bright futures ahead," she said. "I'd like for this tragedy to not go
in vain and for people to demand the end of this terror people are
going through."

But she said she had doubts that justice would prevail in her native
country. It was a sentiment echoed by Juan Salcedo, who asked that
people write to Congress.

Salcedo was one of five siblings whose parents immigrated to Los
Angeles from Guadalajara, Mexico, when his oldest sister was a
toddler. They settled first in East L.A. and then in El Monte. His
parents encouraged them to go to college, and Salcedo was scheduled
to earn his doctorate.

Speaking from Guadalajara, his cousin Eddie Macias, 36, said
Salcedo's success was a point of pride among his relatives in Mexico.

"He was an example of how to live for the rest of us," he said. "Here
and there."