Missing Baby Found Dead Near Salinas

Report: She was supposedly being taken to Disneyland

CASTROVILLE—Three days after 10-month-old Angelle Jenisis Negron was reported missing,  investigators with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department found her body under the Davis Road overpass just off Market Street outside the Salinas city limits.

Jesus Espinoza

The 10-month-old infant was last seen alive on February 2, when Jesus Vargas Espinoza, Jr. 47, of Castroville, picked her up from her grandmother’s house.  He told the baby’s mother, Susan Morales, that he was going to take her to Disneyland with his family.

On Monday February 18, investigators with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department along agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Los Angeles and Watsonville offices located Espinoza as he waited for a bus in an Greyhound bus depot in Los Angeles.  He was taken into custody without incident.

“We believe that he was catching a bus and heading south, possibly to Mexico,” said Sergeant Terry Kaiser of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department.

Suspect Espinoza, Jr. was flown back to Monterey County and was booked into the Monterey County Jail and will face charges of murder, child endangerment and child stealing.  His bail has been set at $1,020,000 dollars.

During the course of their investigation, authorities developed leads as to where the body of the 10-month-old infant could be found.   On February 19 at 9 a.m. authorities conducted a search and discovered the body of a small infant just off Market Street, just outside the city limits of Salinas.  An autopsy on the infant is scheduled for Wednesday February 20 investigators hope to learn how the infant died.

“He gave us information as to where we could find the infant,” Sergeant Kaiser added. “When we attempted to question him further, he asked for a lawyer.”

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Department is still actively investigating this case and is following up on other leads.  The Sheriff’s Department is requesting that anyone with information n this case is asked to contact the Investigation Unit at 831-755-3772 or you can leave a tip on their tip line of 888-833-4847.

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Santa Cruz Sentinel: Missing Castroville Baby Found Dead in Salinas; Man arrested