The body of a 54-year-old woman who had been missing since February was discovered in a cemetery on the side of a highway in Mexico, according to authorities.
Reyna Henandez of Renton, Washington, a suburb of Seattle about 12 miles south of downtown, went missing on February 26. Her friends reported her missing two days later, on February 28, when she failed to return home from running errands and did not open her hair salon in the Renton Highlands.
“Over the past several days, detectives have served multiple search warrants and are following up on dozens of leads,” Renton Police initially stated during their investigation into Hernandez’s disappearance. “A friend reported that he last spoke with Ms. Hernandez on Monday, February 26, between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m., while she was out running errands.” She informed her buddy that she was heading to a residence in South Renton. The evidence found in the search warrants shows that Ms. Hernandez was abducted against her will, and we do not believe her car is still in the region.”
The inquiry, however, took a turn on March 8 when detectives were alerted to a news report in Mexicali regarding “an unidentified body found in a local cemetery on the Tijuana Highway,” according to the Renton Police Department’s statement on the case.
Renton investigators contacted Mexican officials and were able to offer enough information to identify Hernandez over the weekend, police say.
Mexican law enforcement agents apprehended a suspect in the case on unrelated charges, and authorities verified that a 61-year-old Renton resident is currently in custody in Mexico, where Hernandez’s vehicle was also recovered.
Authorities did not reveal Hernandez’s relationship to the 61-year-old suspect, but they did indicate it was considered to be a domestic violence incident.
“This is the worst possible outcome, and our hearts go out to Reyna’s family and friends,” said Investigations Commander Chandler Swain. “We are working closely with Mexican police and our U.S. federal partners to determine when and where Reyna was killed.”
Authorities are now trying to figure out when and how the person died, as well as where the killing occurred. If it is determined that the incident occurred in the United States, authorities will attempt to extradite the suspect to face charges in that jurisdiction.
