PUEBLO, Colo – A Colorado couple was arrested and face murder charges after police discovered the bodies of the man’s young daughter encased in concrete in a storage unit and her brother’s remains stuffed inside a suitcase in the trunk of a car that was found at a scrapyard.
Jesus Dominguez, 35, was taken into custody on Saturday, while his girlfriend, Corena Rose Minjarez, 36, was arrested Friday in the deaths of the two young children, who vanished in 2018, according to a police news release.
The Pueblo Police Department provided the following investigative details:
On January 20, 2024, at approximately 8:37 a.m., Pueblo Police responded to the 600 block of West 6th Street regarding suspicious activity. Officers located a metal container in a storage unit that was filled with hardened concrete and looked suspicious.
On January 22, 2024, Pueblo Police determined the remains of a young female were inside the metal container. Police began the process of identifying the remains of the female and identifying persons of interest in the case.
On January 31st. 2024, Pueblo Police interviewed persons of interest in this case. Those persons were 35-year-old, Jesus Dominguez and 36-year-old, Corena Rose Minjarez. Dominguez was arrested for an outstanding warrant. During those interviews the possibility of the children being in Phoenix, Arizona was mentioned. Police followed up on that potential lead with no success.
During the investigation detectives located a vehicle belonging to a Corena Minjarez at a local scrap yard. On February 6th, 2024, Police executed a search warrant on that vehicle. Police located a suitcase in the trunk of the vehicle. In the suitcase were the remains of a young male child.
On February 15, 2024, Pueblo Police received DNA confirmation that the remains found in the metal container belonged to Yesenia Dominguez and the remains found in the suitcase belonged to Jesus Dominguez Jr. The Pueblo County Coroner made appropriate notifications to next of kin.
Police discovered the body of Yesenia Dominguez encased in a concrete-filled vat inside a storage unit. (Pueblo Police Department)
Investigators also found the remains of Jesus Jr., who was just 5 when he disappeared in 2018, inside a suitcase in a trunk of a car belonging to Minjarez. (Pueblo Police Department)
No one ever filed a missing persons report on either child when they vanished, according to police.
As a result of the investigation, police obtained arrest warrants on Wednesday, Feb. 15, for both Dominguez and Minjarez, charging the couple with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse. Dominguez also faces an additional charge of theft of government benefits, according to the press release.
Minjarez was arrested shortly after the arrest warrant was issued. She is being held at the Pueblo County Detention Center on a $2 million bond.
Dominguez was taken into custody on Saturday and is also being held on a $2 million bond, the New York Post reported.
