PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — The body of a missing 38-year-old Pflugerville mom was located along with her vehicle in a commercial parking lot on Sunday, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the TCSO, deputies responded to assist the Pflugerville Police Department after the vehicle of Camerina Trujillo Perez was reportedly located at a commercial parking lot in the 12300 block of N. SH 130 northbound service road in the late evening hours of Feb. 13.
Authorities had been searching for the 2014 blue Chevrolet Sonic since Jan. 25. In the car, law enforcement found the body of a woman who had been dead for a few weeks.
On Tuesday, an autopsy conducted by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the body as Perez. The cause and manner of death are pending the final report.
Deputies are now investigating how long Perez’s car was in the parking lot and how it came to be there.
Perez and boyfriend Luis Montes were both reported missing on Jan. 25 by family members. Detectives learned there was a possibility Perez could be in danger and Montes had reportedly made threatening statements in the past. A CLEAR Alert was issued, asking for the public’s assistance to locate them.
According to the TCSO, evidence indicates that in the early morning hours of Jan. 25, Perez was killed by Montes. A warrant has been issued for his arrest for her murder, with bail set at $1 million. Montes is still at large.
According to a warrant obtained by KVUE, Perez's daughter told police that they had been dating for "some time," and that Montes had told her in the past that "if she tried to leave him, he would kill himself or do something stupid."
The daughter told investigators they believed Montes had put a tracking device on the mother's car because Montes had shown up at places she was at, unannounced. On Jan. 24, detectives said the mother went on a date with another man, and Montes went to their location and saw them together.
Thanks to cellphone data, detectives were able to find out that Montes called Perez shortly after the date. They spoke for a couple of minutes and met at a GEFCU bank parking lot, located at 900 FM 685. Surveillance video shows both of their cars pulling into the parking lot that day. Near where they parked, a detective later found a pool of blood.
Cellphone data allegedly show Montes drove his truck to a nearby H-E-B. He later hailed an Uber and went to a gas station across the street from the bank. He then allegedly took Perez's vehicle toward his residence.
The cellphone data shows that at night that day, Montes drove from his residence down SH 130 to Lake Pflugerville, and he was there for a while. Officers believe he came to the lake "under the hours of darkness and low pedestrian activity to destroy or conceal evidence."
On Jan. 25, Montes went to his father's residence and left his phone, wallet and keys. Montes' brother went to their father's residence and took Montes' possessions, the affidavit reports.
Investigators spoke with Montes' father, who told police in Spanish something to the effect of that was "afraid that Luis was going to hurt someone else."
On Jan. 26, her vehicle was spotted parked in The Home Depot parking lot at 2551 N. I-35. Video footage shows the vehicle going to a nearby Walmart. Montes is allegedly seen getting out of and into the car.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the TCSO tip line at 512-854-1444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 512-472-8477.
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