A 17-year-old girl who disappeared from her home for a month and the father of the child of another teen who also disappeared for a month are among the 10 people suspected in connection to the death of a 15-year-old girl, Fairfax County Police said.
Nine people are in custody and police identified a tenth suspect in connection with the killing of 15-year-old Alexandra Reyes, police said. Cindy Blanco Hernandez, 18, of Reston; Wilmer A. Sanchez-Serrano, 21, of no fixed address; Aldair J. Miranda Carcamo, 18, of Springfield; Jose Castillo Rivas, 18, of Springfield; and six teenagers were involved in the homicide, police said. Five of the teens are in custody but a 16-year-old girl is not.
“All people have been charged with abduction and gang participation at this time, and we believe that there are no outstanding suspects,” Fairfax County Police 2nd Lt. Brian Gaydos said.
Police believe everyone involved is acquainted or affiliated with one gang, Gaydos said.
"Somehow, someway the people are connected through acquaintances, through knowledge of the crimes or some other investigatory information that detectives have uncovered through speaking with a whole plethora of people,” he said.
Reyes' body was found Saturday near an industrial park in the 7100 block of Wimsatt Road in Springfield, Virginia. She had been missing from her Gaithersburg, Maryland, home for two months.
Police believe she was held against her will, taken to Lake Accotink Park and assaulted before she was killed on or around Jan. 8, almost a month after she disappeared.
Her devastated mother spoke about her daughter Tuesday at her home.
"My daughter was a good person -- not because she was my daughter, but because she was truly good, sweet. She got along with everybody," she said in Spanish, asking that News4 withhold her name for her safety.
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She said her daughter told her MS-13 gang members began threatening her at school. In late November, just after she turned 15, she left home. She stayed in touch with her mom and eventually returned home.
Then, on Dec. 10, she left again.
"She told me, 'No, Mom, I want to see you, but I can't return,'" the teen's mother recalled. "'Why?' I asked her. "'No, Mom, I can't tell you.'"
She heard from her daughter for the last time Jan 6.
Two other teenage girls whom, police say, had contact with gang members also recently disappeared. Both teens returned home safe.
Lizzy Colindres, 16, and her 5-month-old baby, Aiden, returned home to Springfield after they were missing for almost a month. Police had said they believed the teen mom and infant were in danger. They were seeking the child's father, Jose Castillo Rivas, who is in custody in Reyes' death.
Reyes' body was found not far from the neighborhood where Colindres lives.
Venus Romero Iraheta disappeared Jan. 15, a day after Colindres and her baby vanished. Iraheta returned home Tuesday, saying she had been with friends.
She told News4 she left in fear after the suspected murder of her boyfriend in Prince William County.
“I’m really sorry because I know she was very scared about what could happen to me, and I love you, Mama," she said.
She told News4 she heard about Colindres and her baby disappearing.
"That’s why I came, because I thought my mom would be so sad," she said.
But police took her into custody a short time after her homecoming and said she's connected to Reyes' death.
“She is in custody," Gaydos said. "We’re looking at the extent of her involvement, but I couldn’t get into the details of that.”
Iraheta told News4 that the friends she had been with while she was gone are not connected to MS-13 and that she did not see Colindres or Reyes during that time.
Stay with NBC4 and NBCWashington.com for details on this developing story.
