Idania Campos murder case: Ex-boyfriend Ariel Cruz charged with murder of Houston college student found dead in her truck
HOUSTON, TEXAS: Ariel Cruz, 19, has been arrested by the Houston police for allegedly killing his former girlfriend, 21-year-old Idania Campos. He later stuffed the body in the trunk of her vehicle.
According to Cruz's bail motion, he reportedly confessed to killing Campos because she broke up with him in the past.
When was Idania Campos' body discovered?
On November 28, the family members of the victim, whose full name was Idania Maria Campos Muñoz, became concerned upon learning that she had not shown up for school.
Tracking her phone, they reached the 5400 block of Indigo Street in Meyerland and found her car.
When Campos was not seen sitting inside the vehicle or anywhere around it, the police were informed.
The responding officers did not notice anything suspicious, and the car did not look like it was broken into. Only Campos's phone was present inside. A missing person's report was filed and the officers left the scene.
"Of course, if the family thought she was in the car, of course, they would have made forced entry, but at this point, they just thought it was left there. Nobody at that point thought she was inside the trunk," Lt. Alias Smith told ABC13.
The victim's family stayed behind and called for a locksmith to open the car. Seeing that it was taking too long, Campos's father decided to break a window to get inside.
Jenny Gonzales, who lived nearby was the one who made the gruesome discovery.
"'Here's a bat. Here's a towel.' So we broke the window open, unlocked the car. I popped the trunk, and there she was, just laying there. There was no way to save her. There was too much blood," she told the news outlet.
Ariel Cruz participated in search for Idiana Campos
The victim's family told ABC13 that the accused was present at the scene, and was consoling them. He even spent most of the Thanksgiving weekend at their place.
Investigators found blood in the trunk, but no shell casings were seen in the area. The body also showed signs of trauma to the face.
Lt Smith was of the opinion that Campos was killed somewhere else and then left in her car on Indigo Street.
Cruz is currently being held at the Harris County Jail on $600,000 bail.
