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Letter to the editor

Hit-run leaves big gap in family

By Saundra Amrhein
Published June 29, 2007

Cesar Cordero Gonzalez gathered his friends and family at his house.

On Sunday afternoon he lined the back wall of his mobile home with chairs in front of the TV.

Cordero, 37, and the crowd cheered as Mexico took an early 1-0 lead against the United States in the Gold Cup soccer championship. The game was a reminder of home, a place he hadn't seen in three years, since crossing the border to find construction work.

As family and friends milled around after the U.S. victory, Cordero climbed on his bicycle and set out to buy more beer at a convenience store on U.S. 41.

He must have been pedaling south along Seventh Street SW when the van hit him, his family said.

A white van going north struck and killed Cordero on Seventh at Castillo Road and kept going, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

The white Ford work van hit Cordero and threw him onto the shoulder of the road. He died at the scene.

The Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that an anonymous tip led deputies to the van behind a home at 2018 15th St. SE, Lot 6. They were searching for the van's owner, Adrian Cuero, 37, who lives at that address. He also goes by Adrian Cuero-Rodriguez, deputies said.

The Sheriff's Office said the wreck occurred just before 11 p.m. But family members said neighbors ran to Cordero's home on Ocean Mist Court with news of the crash about 8 p.m.

Cordero's wife, family and friends sat in his living room this week, still in shock.

"Like a majority of the people here, he was a hard worker, " Juan Solache, the husband of Cordero's niece, said.

He left Mexico three years ago, unable to find work to support his family. He crossed the border illegally and made his way to Florida. He worked in home construction, but since the market slowdown, he also held jobs in plant nurseries and landscaping, they said. He sent money back to his mother, wife and their three children until he could afford to pay someone to bring them across the border.

Ema Alvarado Canto arrived with their 7-year-old son five months ago. Their oldest children, ages 15 and 13, are in Mexico with her brother, she said.

Now the family is trying to raise more than $3, 000 to fly Cordero's body back to Mexico.

An undocumented immigrant, Cordero's wife can't accompany his body even if she had the money. Alone and responsible for three children in two countries, she's unsure of her next step.

"I don't know what to do, stay or go back, " she said.

Saundra Amrhein can be reached at amrhein@sptimes.com or 813 661-2441.

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Anyone with information about the hit and run should call the Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800- 873-8477.

[Last modified June 28, 2007, 08:00:38]