Body of Moses Lake resident found near Kennewick
Former Moses Lake resident Juan Gastelum has been charged with the murder of 30-year-old Yanira Cedillos. Authorities located Cedillos's body Thursday using records associated with Gastelum's cell phone.
FILE PHOTO
MOSES LAKE — The body of a Moses Lake woman missing since early March was found late Thursday in a remote section of Walla Walla County not far from Kennewick.
According to a press release from the Moses Lake Police Department and posted on the department’s Facebook page, MLPD officers found the body of Yanira Cedillos, reported missing on March 4, just outside of Wallula Junction off U.S. Highway 12, after detectives investigating the case used cell phone data to determine the location of Cedillos’ body.
Cedillos went missing in March after investigators say family members reported that she had received several text messages from Gastelum while at a party celebrating her 30th birthday. She is thought to have left with Gastelum and gone to her apartment which was later found to have evidence leading authorities to believe she had been attacked there.
Assisted by deputies from the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol, MLPD officers converged on the area and quickly discovered the body of a woman that had been wrapped in a sleeping bag and covered with tree limbs and leaves.
The body was not formally identified as Cedillos until Monday morning, according to the MLPD statement.
MLPD Chief Kevin Fuhr said the police worked closely with mapping and data analysis firm ZetX to use data from Cedillos’ cell phone to track her movements and figure out where she was.
“Thursday afternoon, detectives received the cell phone data from the carrier and we zoomed in on that location,” he said.
Juan Gastelum, 27, was arrested in mid-March by Hermiston, Ore., police after being charged with rape and murder, and is currently being held in the Umatilla County Jail pending extradition to Washington. Fuhr said he believes an extradition hearing is scheduled for June.
“We’ve forwarded everything to the prosecutor’s office, and now we’re just waiting for the trial,” he said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.