Carson City Sheriff's officers headed back to Nevada on Saturday evening, bringing with them a truck they believe holds the key to a missing woman's disappearance.
Undersheriff Steve Albertson and two detectives left Utah about 6 p.m. Saturday to return to Carson City, following the arrest Friday of Juan Carlos Tellez, 36, wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Bertha Anguiano, said Chief Deputy Steve Schuette. Authorities here believe Tellez could shed light on Anguiano's Nov. 10 disappearance.
Carson City learned from Utah troopers Thursday morning that Tellez's 1992 GMC Jimmy was parked, without plates, at an apartment complex in Salt Lake City. Following 24 hours of surveillance, Tellez and Joaquin Barcelo, 37, exited the complex and were attempting to leave the parking lot in another vehicle when Salt Lake deputies stopped them. Tellez allegedly leapt from the vehicle and pointed a loaded handgun at officers, who then rammed him with their car, said Salt Lake Police Detective Kevin Joiner.
Barcelo allegedly tried to flee, and drove toward Carson City detectives, one of whom opened fire on the vehicle's tires. Barcelo surrendered. Both men were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges of aggravated assault. They are being held without bail.
Anguiano, 33, a married mother of three sons, was last seen in the parking lot of Empire Elementary School talking with an unidentified man about 8 a.m. Nov. 10. Some 90 minutes later, another son, Andrew, 3, who was with her at the time, was found abandoned and bloodied at a store in Dayton about 12 miles from the family's home. The boy told police that he and his mother had been pushed from a truck, and that his mother had been hit with a stick and killed.
Schuette said Salt Lake detectives will continue to question Tellez during the course of their investigation on the assault charges. "Utah investigators are going to continue this case from their end, that's going to help us from our end," Schuette said.
When interviewed by Carson City detectives Friday night, Tellez denied his name was Juan Carlos, or any knowledge of Anguiano and her whereabouts, Sheriff Kenny Furlong said.
The two were believed to have been having an affair, which was a point of contention between Anguiano and her husband, Furlong said.
Schuette said a forensic examination of the truck will begin Monday. Investigators are hoping to find evidence that Anguiano was in the truck, and if she was, where she would be.
"Obviously, this investigation will continue indefinitely until we can close it one way or another," Schuette said.
