A Hispanic fugitive who allegedly fatally strangled a Utah mother in 2015 and dumped her body in Colorado was finally arrested Saturday.
The subject identified as Jesús Huerta-Martínez, aged 41, was taken into custody at the Salt Lake County Jail, receiving charges of murder, aggravated robbery and obstruction of justice at the felony level, according to jail records.
Authorities confirmed that Huerta-Martínez was arrested in connection with the death of María Maricela Astorga-Chávez, of 32 years, according to information compiled by FOX13 Salt Lake City.
Astorga-Chávez had been missing since August 2015 in West Valley City, Utah, a week before she was found dead in Colorado. The last time she was seen was getting into a car driven by Huerta-Martínez, according to local reports that cited court documents.
At the autopsy, the Colorado medical examiner concluded that Astorga-Chavez , who was the mother of three children, died by strangulation, according to the aforementioned media outlet.
Huerta-Martínez was considered the main suspect by the investigators and they searched his house located in Salt Lake, where They found two quilt bags that coincided with the ones that Astorga-Chávez’s body was wrapped in.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the accusation documents indicated that Huerta-Martínez had left the country on a bus bound for Mexico.
However, the authorities have not provided additional information on how the arrest took place. Hispanic of 41 years old.