Two men now charged in connection with the killing of a Jersey City kindergarten teacher were stopped by police near the spot where her body was later found, according to information obtained by BreakingAC.
Luz Hernandez, 33, was found dead in a shallow grave in Kearny on Tuesday, a day after she was reported missing.
Cesar Santana, 36, and Leiner Miranda Lopez, 26, have been charged with desecrating/concealing human remains, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday.
Santana, identified as Hernandez's estranged husband, was arrested at a Miami hotel Friday, according to the office. Miranda Lopez is still being sought.
But it seems Santana and Miranda Lopez may have been interrupted by Kearny police shortly after disposing of the mother of three's body, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Kearny officers first saw a Honda parked with its hazard lights on at about 10:30 Sunday night, on Central Avenue. Two men then emerged from the area of the train tracks with a bin that they put into the car's trunk, the affidavit states.
The car was impounded after police found the registration was expired and it did not belong to Santana.
The next day, Carolina Hernandez reported her sister missing to Jersey City police.
That brought investigators to Hernandez's Van Horne Street apartment, which is also listed as Santana's most recent address.
In the bedroom they found what appeared to be blood stains on the mattress, along with two blood stains on the door of the closet, the affidavit states.
That led police to go back to the area where Santana had been stopped. Nearby, officers saw an area with unearthed dirt.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office was called, and Hernandez's remains were found.
There were signs of trauma to her face and head, and there was a severed section of rope adjacent to the body, the affidavit reads.
Hernandez died of blunt-force trauma to the head and compressions to the neck, an autopsy by the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined. The death was ruled a homicide.
A search warrant was then approved for the Honda, where investigators found a 70 gallon storage tote with wheels. They also found a shovel with apparent black hairs, a pick axe, rope with apparent black hair and blood stains, along with clear plastic sheeting with blood stains and soil, according to the affidavit.
The rope matched the rope near her makeshift grave.
