Three men are arrested on suspicion of murdering California couple who vanished three years ago
- Jesus Ruiz Jr., 41; Manuel Rios, 28, and Abraham Fregoso, 32, charged with murdering Audrey Moran, 26, and Jonathan Reynoso, 28
- Moran and Reynoso were last seen alive on May 10, 2017, and were reported missing by their families two days later
- Moran’s SUV was found abandoned on the side of a freeway the morning she and her boyfriend were reported missing
- Authorities declined to say how they linked suspects to the case or how they know Moran and Reynoso have been killed
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a Southern California couple who mysteriously disappeared three years ago.
The men were arrested last week for allegedly killing Audrey Moran and Jonathan Reynoso, who went missing in May 2017 without a trace, the Riverside County Sheriff’s department said in a press release. At the time, Moran was 26 years old and Reynoso was 28.
Police in Indio, California, who initially investigated the case told the Palm Springs Desert Sun three years ago that the couple’s disappearance was ‘completely out of character’ and that the pair had a good relationship with each other and their families.
Jonathan Reynoso, 28 (left), and his 26-year-old girlfriend, Audrey Moran (right), were reported missing in May 2017 in Southern California
Without going into any specifics, the sheriff’s office said information obtained during the lengthy investigation led to the arrests of Jesus Ruiz Jr., 41, of Stockton; Manuel Rios, 28, of Coachella, and Abraham Fregoso, 32, of Indio.
All three have been booked into Riverside County jails.
Records cited by the Desert Sun indicate that Fregoso was taken into custody on Friday at the California Men’s Colony, where he had been incarcerated for the past year on a drug possession conviction.
Ruiz was arrested on Friday morning in Stockton.
Rios has been in jail since February 5 on gun and drug charges.
A department spokesman declined to say how investigators connected the suspects to the case or how they know Moran and Reynoso have been killed, citing the ongoing probe.
According to the press release, at around noon on May 12, 2017, officers from the Palm Desert Police Department received a report of a missing man later identified as Reynoso, who was last seen two days earlier at his home in Palm Beach.
His girlfriend, Moran, was reported missing the same day. She was last seen on May 10 leaving work at a storage facility.
About three hours before Reynoso was reported missing, Moran’s vehicle, a gray 2010 GMC Terrain, was found abandoned along Interstate 10 freeway in Beaumont with no clues.