Ontario man pleads not guilty to murdering girlfriend
An Ontario man accused of killing his girlfriend and fleeing to Mexico pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Thursday in West Valley Superior Court.
Mario Adrian Reyes, 35, is accused of killing Ana Maria Garcia, 34, at Garcia's home on East Yale Avenue in Ontario.
Reyes was apprehended by Mexican authorities Tuesday in San Felipe -- a Baja California city about 150 miles south of the border -- and extradited to the United States.
During an Oct. 2 search of Garcia's home, police said they found a significant amount of blood. There was no trace of Garcia or Reyes.
Garcia's badly decomposed body was found Wednesday in an Inglewood storage unit.
Reyes is scheduled to next appear in court on Nov. 12.
Click the link below for a story from today's newspaper on Reyes' arrest.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_10920740
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Ontario man arrested in Mexico in connection with murder of girlfriend
By Jannise Johnson, Staff Writer
Article Created: 11/06/2008 08:32:35 PM PST
ONTARIO - A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the disappearance and death of his girlfriend has been arrested, police said Thursday.
Mario Adrian Reyes, 35, of Ontario was apprehended by San Felipe authorities in Mexico on Tuesday.
Reyes was wanted in connection with the disappearance of Ana Maria Garcia, 34, of Ontario, according to a police news release.
On Oct. 2, detectives found evidence at her house in the 1600 block of East Yale Street indicating she had been the victim of foul play.
The investigation led authorities to a storage unit in Inglewood on Wednesday where they found the badly decomposed body of a woman. The body was later identified as Garcia's by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Department.
Ontario police Lt. John Evans said the cause of death will be determined by coroner's investigators.
Reyes was booked on suspicion of murder.
The search for both Reyes and Garcia began Oct. 2 after police responded to a suspicious circumstances call at 3:35 a.m. at Garcia's home on East Yale Avenue.
Family members who initially went to Garcia's home said they also found evidence of an altercation.
The house was searched but Garcia was not found, authorities said.
Ontario Det. Jeff Higbee also said there was a "significant" amount of blood found at the scene.
Reyes is on felony probation for weapons charges until 2013, Higbee said. He was paroled in 2006.
"We had a lot of cooperation from the Mexican government authorities," Evans said. "That's some of the message here is that we have a very good rapport."
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