Authorities have found the remains of a woman who went missing after leaving a bar in Longmont in 2018.
Rita Gutierrez-Garcia’s remains were recovered April 28 after the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office and Longmont Department of Public Safety received a tip.
Preliminary results from a DNA analysis confirmed Thursday that the remains belonged to Gutierrez-Garcia, according to a news release from both agencies.
Gutierrez-Garcia was last seen at 2:30 a.m. March 18, 2018, by her friends near a bar in downtown Longmont.
Investigators identified Juan Figueroa Jr., 33, as a suspect in her disappearance. In a separate case, authorities arrested and charged Figueroa Jr. with attempted murder and sexual assault.
Figueroa Jr. was found guilty of those charges and is serving 93 years to life in prison.
In June, a grand jury indicted Figueroa Jr. on charges of first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping in connection with Gutierrez-Garcia’s death.
The jurors relied on statements acquired through a court-authorized wiretap in prison that caught Figueroa Jr. telling his cellmate that he strangled Gutierrez-Garcia and disposed of her body before returning to his sister’s home on March 18, 2018.
He said he punched the “missing woman” after she called him a “weirdo,” The Denver Gazette previously reported.
When Figueroa Jr. was indicted, Gutierrez-Garcia’s mother, Dianne Romero, said the family had been praying for justice.
“We are grateful for this day, it’s a joyous day, I’ve been praying for this day, so God has given this to me,” Romero said during a news conference in June.
Figueroa Jr.’s murder trial was scheduled to begin later this month, but he is expected to plead guilty to murder and be sentenced on June 3, according to the joint statement.
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