Police Find Body of Teen Kidnapped from California Park, Arrest Suspect in ‘Randomly Targeted’ Crime

Police in California found the body of a missing 19-year-old woman and arrested a man believed to have kidnapped and shot her.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Andrea Vasquez was sitting in a car with her boyfriend in the early hours Sunday in a Whittier park when someone fired into the vehicle. The boyfriend said he fled the shots, and when he returned, Vasquez was gone.

Family members said Vasquez’s phone last pinged in the Moreno Valley area, about 50 miles away from the park.

The family members reported the location to police, who swarmed the area with drones, dogs, and manpower. Late Monday night, they found Vasquez’s body in a field, KCBS reported.

Police said they arrested 20-year-old Gabriel Esparza at his job on murder and kidnapping charges and recovered a weapon believed to have been used in Vasquez’s murder as well as Esparza’s truck. They said it appears that the suspect targeted Esparza and her boyfriend randomly.

Detectives declined to release further information, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

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[Featured image: Gabriel Esparza and Andrea Vasquez/Whittier Police Department]