Authorities searching for a missing Texas woman believe she was killed by her estranged husband whose whereabouts also remain unknown.
The Denton Police Department and the FBI continue to search for Marjulin Daiuru Briceño Arrieta and Richard Pastor Perez, police said in a news release on Tuesday, October 13.
Authorities have obtained an arrest warrant charging Perez, 49, with Briceño Arrieta’s murder after detectives found evidence indicating she was killed, according to authorities.
“Before her disappearance, Marjulin had never gone a day without seeing her children,” interim Denton Police Chief Tony Salas said during a news conference, per CBS News.
Briceño Arrieta, 42, has three children.
She hasn’t been seen since about 6:45 p.m. on September 28, when family members reported her missing that evening after she left work to meet with Perez, 49, at his Denton apartment, according to police.
Several calls to both of their phones went to voicemail, prompting concern among Briceño Arrieta’s family members due Perez’s alleged history of domestic abuse against her, police said.
Investigators ultimately discovered her car near Perez’s apartment, with his white 2013 Ford Escape nowhere to be found, according to authorities. The vehicle has since been located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Detectives learned the license plate on Perez’s vehicle was swapped and tracked his Ford escape using Flock cameras, police said. His vehicle was first detected the evening of Briceño Arrieta’s disappearance, along Highway 287 in Wichita Falls.
The next day, Perez’s car was detected in Donley County, southeast of Amarillo, after 1 a.m. on September 29, according to authorities. Later that evening, his car was seen traveling westbound on Interstate 40, west of Amarillo.
Afterward, Albuquerque, New Mexico, police discovered Perez’s car in the city, where the vehicle was seen at a local hotel, following a license plate hit, police said.
“Detectives recovered video evidence that showed the vehicle arriving at a hotel on Wednesday, Sept. 30,” police said in the news release. “A man matching Perez’s description was also seen exiting the vehicle before abandoning it in the parking lot. No one else was seen with him.”
There is a $2,000 reward for information resulting in Perez’s arrest in relation to Briceño Arrieta’s disappearance, according to authorities.
“My mom is my everything, she is the person who is my everything,” Briceño Arrieta’s 18-year-old daughter, Jehtsabeth Arenas Briceño, told WFAA-TV in an interview translated from Spanish.
“To anonymously report a tip concerning Perez’s whereabouts, please call Denton County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-388-TIPS (8477) or visit www.dentoncountycrimestoppers.com,” police said in the news release.
