Eddy Reyes, an employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, lived with his late wife in Santa Ana. He is now being charged with her kidnap and murder.

Eddy Reyes, 35, has been arrested in connection to the disappearance and murder of his wife, Claudia Sanchez Reyes. Claudia was last seen in 2016; she was 21 at the time.

The Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California released a statement confirming that Eddy was taken into custody on April 15 and is being held by authorities without bond.

Man standing in handcuff. | Source: Pexels/ Kindel Media

HEARD FIGHTING

The investigation into Claudia's kidnapping and death has all leads pointing back to her husband. The 21-year-old victim was last seen leaving work on May 6, 2016. Eddy reported her missing four days later.

The Santa Ana Police Department discovered that Claudia's co-workers heard her arguing with Eddy outside the place of work before he picked her up in a rented vehicle. The statement reveals more evidence as it reads:

"Detectives later found a drop of Claudia Reyes’ blood in that vehicle and a cadaver dog indicated that a dead body had been in the SUV."

REGULAR ABUSE

The victim was also often on the receiving side of her husband's abuse, as proved by several temporary restraining orders she obtained against him throughout 2014 to 2016.

Claudia became pregnant with Eddy's child at the age of 16, he was 25 at the time.

Eddy was also accused of allegedly threatening Claudia that he would kill her in the time that they were together, which indicated that the husband was emotionally and physically abusing Claudia.

BODY STILL MISSING

The complaint against Eddy claims that the suspect kidnapped Claudia, promising to take her dancing but instead, he took her to his mother's house, where he murdered her. The victim's body has not yet been found.

Should Eddy be convicted of the charge of kidnapping resulting in death, he could be sentenced to the death penalty or life in federal prison without parole.

VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE

The young mother's lack of response to her family's efforts to reach her raised suspicion as Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna shared that “she communicated with her mom on a regular basis.”

Eddy and Claudia met while he was on vacation in El Salvador. Claudia became pregnant with Eddy's child at the age of 16; he was 25 at the time. The two decided to marry but considered divorce multiple times.

The suspect's lawyer from 2016, Marlin Stapleton, revealed that Claudia had been operating two or more Facebook pages at the time and was keeping at least one of them a secret from her husband.

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