Body of 24-year-old glamour model found encased in concrete in desert after being ‘injected with pool cleaner’
Detectives believe victim was held against her will at neighbour’s house before being murdered
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Your support makes all the difference.A body found encased in concrete in a desert is believed to be that of a missing woman “strangled and injected with pool cleaner,” according to court documents.
The remains were found in a “homemade concrete and wooden structure” in the desert area north of Las Vegas, police said.
Detectives believe they belong to 24-year-old glamour model Esmeralda Gonzalez, who was last seen five months ago.
Officers received an anonymous tip-off that neighbour Christopher Prestipino, 45, had been involved in her disappearance.
After searching his house, police believe the victim was held there against her will before she was murdered.
Mr Prestipino was arrested on Friday and charged with open murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder.
Police also arrested 31-year-old Lisa Mort for allegedly helping to harbour, conceal or aid the killing.
The remains have not yet been formally identified as Ms Gonzalez, and Clark County Coroner’s Office is yet to release a cause of death.
However in court papers seen by the Las Vegas Review Journal, chief deputy district attorney Pamela Weckerly alleged Mr Prestipino strangled the 24-year-old and injected her with pool cleaner.
Ms Weckerly wrote: “Prestipino rented a U-Haul, and the victim’s body was dumped in the desert.”
She added that the suspect appeared to have been “panicked” because he “left the rented U-Haul dolly at the body dump location”.
Ms Gonzalez worked in the adult entertainment industry and lived about 150m away from Mr Prestipino, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
She was reported missing by her brother on 31 May after he found her home “ransacked”.
Police received anonymous information on 18 July that Mr Prestipino had been involved in her disappearance.
Mr Prestipino and Ms Mort remain in police custody.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department by calling 702-828-3521, or emailing at homicide@lvmpd.com.
To give information anonymously, contact Crimestoppers by phone on 702-385-5555, or via their website www.crimestoppersofnv.com.
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