Man Charged With Murder Of Missing 29-Year-Old Mom Arrested

A man has been arrested and charged with the murder of a 29-year-old mother in Texas after she went missing in July, police said Wednesday.

Erika Andrea Gaytan was last seen with the accused, 28-year-old Ricardo Marquez, when they attended the "El Reencuentro Norteno" concert at the El Paso County Coliseum together on July 13. Gaytan’s family reported her missing on July 16, saying it was uncharacteristic of her to leave her 7-year-old son behind for so long.

Police issued a missing person alert for Gaytan, describing her as endangered.

Based on the forensic and other evidence that the police gathered during the course of the investigation, they believed that Gaytan was murdered. Her body has not been recovered.

“Her body has not been found, but based on forensic and other evidence gathered over the course of the investigation, detectives have reason to believe that she is deceased and was the victim of a murder,” police spokesman Enrique Carrillo said in a statement, The Associated Press reported.

According to a police affidavit, Marquez told detectives that he and Gaytan went to his house after the concert and had an argument. Gaytan then used a ride-share app to leave, according to Marquez. However, no evidence of the order was found from Gaytan’s phone records.

Marquez’s phone records showed that he texted his brother at 11:00 a.m. on July 14 to borrow his Jeep Wrangler. He also borrowed a shovel from his sister the same morning. A search conducted in Marquez’s home turned up the shovel, sand-filled shoes, and plastic restraints.

Police have seized the shovel as evidence along with the sand-filled shoes. His brother’s jeep was also seized and investigators found traces of blood in the vehicle which matched Gaytan’s DNA sample, KFOX14 reported. According to the affidavit the jeep was caught on surveillance cameras headed toward a desert area and then returning an hour later.

The sand in the shoes was found to be visually consistent with the sand in the desert area off East Montana.

Marquez was arrested at his home in El Paso and is being held in the El Paso County Detention Facility on $1 million bond. The investigation is currently ongoing and the police are working towards recovering the body.