PUEBLO, Colo. (Scripps News Colorado Springs/AP) — Two people have been arrested after two missing children were found dead, one in a suitcase and the other encased in concrete.
Corena Minjarez and Jesus Dominguez are charged with the murders of two children who disappeared in 2018. (Pueblo Police Department)
Corena Rose Minjarez, 36, and Jesus Dominguez, 35, were arrested and charged with murder and abuse of a corpse in the deaths of Yesenia and Jesus Dominguez Jr., who went missing in the summer of 2018. At the time, Yesenia was three and Jesus was five years old.
Police found the girl’s remains in a metal container filled with concrete in a storage unit last month, according to authorities. The unit was being cleared out after the rent wasn’t paid. As part of the investigation, police began searching for two children last seen in the summer of 2018, Jesus Dominguez Jr. and Yesenia Dominguez.
Yesenia and Jesus Dominguez Jr. disappeared in the summer of 2018 but weren’t reported missing. (Pueblo Police Dept. via Scripps News Colorado Springs)
The investigation then led police to a vehicle owned by Minjarez in a scrap yard, where they found a boy’s remains in a suitcase in the trunk of the car, police said. By Feb. 15, DNA testing showed the remains belonged to the two missing children.
Police did not offer details on any relation between the victims and the two arrested.
On February 15 shortly after 3:30 p.m. arrest warrants were obtained for Minjarez and Jesus Dominguez for two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse. Police say Jesus Dominguez has an additional charge of theft of government benefits.
Court hearings are scheduled for both defendants on Wednesday. Available court records did not identify attorneys for Minjarez and Dominguez who could comment on their behalf.
