RENTON, Wash. — Detectives with the Renton Police Department have confirmed a body found in Mexico is Reyna Hernandez, who disappeared on February 26.
Two days later, her friends reported her missing after she failed to return to her South Renton home from doing errands and didn’t return to her hair salon business in the Renton Highlands.
According to Renton police, detectives were made aware of a news article on March 8 in Mexicali about an unidentified body found in a local cemetery on the Tijuana Highway.
After contacting Mexican authorities, Renton detectives were able to confirm her body of the weekend.
Law enforcement in Mexico arrested a 61-year-old Renton suspect on unrelated charges. He is currently in custody in Mexico.
“Detectives have not been super clear on what (their) relationship is, this person has not yet been charged so once we get all of those facts together we will be able to give you more information,” Meeghan Black of the Renton Police Department said.
Mexican authorities were also able to recover Hernandez’s car.
According to Renton police, the crime is a domestic violence case.
“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 Mexicali police and our U.S. Federal partners to determine when and where Reyna was killed.”
At this time, detectives are working to confirm where Hernandez was killed. If she was killed in the United States and taken to Mexico, authorities would seek extradition for the suspect to face those charges.
“To have this as the outcome is just devastating. It’s now gone across country lines, not just state lines but country lines and we were working very well with Mexican officials and we’re getting the federal officials involved to try and figure out who takes jurisdiction when we figure out that timeline,” Black said.
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