Santeria spiritualist sought in lover's cold case murder
LA PUENTE, Calif. -- Authorities announced Tuesday they are seeking a Santeria spiritualist for murder after they unearthed the body of his former lover -- who vanished six years ago -- in a Southern California backyard.
An arrest warrant was issued last week for 46-year-old Pablo Pinto Mata, authorities said at a news conference where they also announced that skeletal remains found on Aug. 7 are those of Maria Delrefugio Chavez.
Chavez was last seen on May 7, 2009, as she left an indoor swap meet in East Los Angeles where she had a business.
She sent a text message to a friend that night saying she was in trouble and might be in danger, City News Service reported. She was reported missing that night, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Investigators suspect that Mata killed the 40-year-old El Monte woman and buried her in the backyard of a home in unincorporated Valinda east of Los Angeles, sheriff's officials said. Detectives had announced earlier this month they were digging at the home after receiving a report of human remains possibly buried in the backyard.
They said the excavation was in connection to a 2009 missing case, but hadn't previously specified who the missing person was.
Current residents of the home didn't know the body was there and aren't considered suspects, authorities said.
Mata, who also uses the aliases Juan Diego and El Padrino, claimed to be a priest of Santeria -- a religion based on Roman Catholic and African beliefs -- and performed cleansing rituals at a botanica he owned in Montebello, officials said.
Chavez met him while she was a customer -- he acted as a Santeria spiritualist for her and others at the store, reports CBS Los Angeles. He later became her business partner, and they reportedly became romantically involved. Mata fathered a daughter with her though he was married and had other children, investigators said.
The daughter was 4 when Chavez vanished and now lives with other relatives, detectives said.
Earlier this month, Montebello police said Mata was wanted in the rape of a 16-year-old girl on whom he had conducted healing rituals, reported CBS Los Angeles.
Relatives of Chavez attended the news conference. In Spanish, her sister Maria Elena Chavez asked for help in finding Mata.
Their mother died about a month ago without learning that the remains of her daughter had been found, sheriff's detective Joe Romero said.
"Now the family can put their sister to rest in peace," Romero said.
Authorities say Mata ia also wanted in West Covina for another sex-related crime. He has reportedly eluded arrest since 2013.
Police describe him as a Hispanic man, now 46 years old, of Salvadoran descent, five feet, five inches tall and 175 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a goatee. His last known address was at the botanica.
Anyone with information about Mata or his whereabouts can call homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500.