A Missouri couple who were deported from the US have been found dead in Guatemala, with their youngest daughter discovered alive nearby.

Nixon Giovanni Perez, 43, and Glendy Marisol Gonzalez, 25, died with their mouths gagged and their hands and feet bound in a sugarcane field close to Retalhuleu, about 180km west of the capital, Guatemala City.

Authorities rescued the couple’s one-year-old daughter from the murder scene last week, believing she had been there for hours before cops arrived. 

Perez, who had fled violence and ‌poverty ⁠in the Latin American country, was deported last year, according to his brother, and his wife 'self-deported' in June to join him, his family said. 

The couple had been living in Overland, St Louis, with their three daughters, according to a fundraiser launched by a local charity.  

Guatemalan prosecutors said the orphaned girls have been placed in the care of extended family members. 

Their parents were reported missing last week, and Guatemala’s National Civil Police found their bodies in a field shortly afterwards. 

Investigators said Perez had suffered what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his neck, and Gonzalez had suffered a wound to her head. No motive has been given for the killings and it is unclear if they were in any way related to the couple's recent return to Guatemala. 

Shell casings were found scattered close to their bodies, along with a pink and white Champion shoe. They had no personal belongings. A red striped motorbike was seized at the scene.

The family's fundraiser identified the one-year-old girl rescued from the scene as Giovanni, who they said was found 'alive but dehydrated'. 

Perez's brother Rolando told St Louis Public Radio that the nightmare began when the two of them were detained by immigration agents on their way to roofing jobs last year. 

He said his brother was deported, and Gonzalez moved to Guatemala to be with him. 

Representatives for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Overland police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Missouri Workers Center held a vigil on Sunday for Perez and Gonzalez, who was a member of an immigrants' rights organizing committee of the workers' ​group.

'Glendy came to our Fuerza meetings ​three weeks after giving ⁠birth. She was working two jobs, bringing new members, showing up - even as her world was being torn apart,' the group said. 

'In June, to protect her daughters and keep the ​rest of her family together - and fearing she might lose custody of the girls - Glendy ​made the impossible ⁠decision to go back to Guatemala, even with an asylum court date set for 2027.'

The fundraiser for the orphaned children said that their 11-year-old daughter Marisol suffers from stress-induced epilepsy, and donations will help fund medical care. 

'These children are adjusting to life without their parents, relying on the love and support of their aunt and extended community. 

'The funds raised will help cover medical care for Marisol and Giovanni, provide for their daily living expenses, and ensure they have access to education and stability as they move forward. 

'This support will give them a chance to heal and build a brighter future, despite the tragedy they have experienced.'

More than 31,000 people were deported to Guatemala in the first six months of 2026, according to UN data, a 47 percent increase from the same period last year. 

More than 90 percent ⁠of deportees ​were sent from the US, and the rest from Mexico.

Guatemala's government, which ​attributes a wave of murders that spiked over the last week to organized crime, announced a plan on Monday to strengthen the country's security measures.