A 31-year-old California man has been charged with the murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend after her remains were found burned in a barrel next to a trailer where his sister lives.
Gilroy Police say that Ivan Alfaro Escobedo killed Alyssa Nicole Salazar, a mom of two, because she reported to police he raped and assaulted her, KTVU reported.
Salazar reported the alleged attack on April 27, and an arrest warrant was issued for Escobedo on domestic violence charges while detectives continued to investigate.
Salazar was last seen in surveillance video on July 26 at about 12:30 p.m., leaving the Steinbeck Library in Salinas. She was seen in the video getting into the front passenger seat of Escobedo’s 2007 Honda Accord. Her last communication came in a phone call from Escobedo’s phone just after the Accord pulled away from the library.
Salazar’s family reported her missing on August 10, and Escobedo was arrested on August 30.
Investigators found a 9mm handgun inside the Honda and reddish brown stains on the front passenger door frame and seat foam. Testing confirmed the stains were blood, and a DNA analysis matched a profile for Salazar, police said.
A witness told investigators about seeing Escobedo in late July burning something in barrels next to his sister’s trailer. After his arrest, investigators searched the property and found human rib fragments, a skull, and a hand in a barrel next to the trailer.
“A single source female DNA profile was obtained from the bones and Alyssa Salazar is included as a possible contributor,” Gilroy police said. “The probability of a random, unrelated individual having the same DNA profile is less than 1. in 6.7 quintillion.”
The Santa Clara County coroner declared Salazar dead based on those findings, police said.
Two other witnesses told investigators they saw Salazar, slumped over in Escobedo’s car, at his sister’s property around July 26. One of those witnesses said that Escobedo later admitted he shot Salazar inside the car, dismembered her in his sister’s bathtub, and burned the remains in the barrel.
Escobedo has been charged with murder and is being held without bond.
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[Featured image: Alyssa Salazar/GoFundMe and Ivan Escobedo/Gilroy Police Department]
