The month-long search for a missing El Paso woman ended with a murder charge after investigators alleged she was stabbed, strangled and left wrapped in a shower curtain inside an apartment less than a mile from where she was last seen.
Detectives investigating an unrelated homicide found the victim's decomposing body after a resident flagged them down to report a "foul smell" coming from a nearby apartment unit.
Regan Shameika Anderson, 37, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of Daissy Guadalupe Moreno, 40, on July 17 after a Northeast El Paso house party, a complaint affidavit states.
Anderson was booked into the El Paso County jail on Friday, Aug. 21, jail records show. The arrest comes more than a month after Moreno
was reported missing.
Court records state that Moreno was stabbed in the neck after being pulled from the party by her hair. She was taken to the apartment where her body was discovered.
No attorney is named in court records for Anderson. She remains jailed without bond, jail records show.
Two other people allegedly involved in the incident are named in the affidavit, but court records show no charges have been filed against them as of Monday, Aug. 24.
Woman dragged to car after Northeast El Paso house party
Moreno was reported "missing under suspicious circumstances" on July 20, the affidavit states. El Paso police detectives interviewed several witnesses in Moreno's disappearance.
Witnesses said they saw Moreno about 9 p.m. July 17 at a party at an apartment at 4008 Leavell Avenue. Anderson and two others showed up at the party. As the party was ending, Moreno and her ex-girlfriend got into an argument. Moreno allegedly told Anderson and two other people that she was a police informant and accused the three of being criminals, the affidavit states.
The ex-girlfriend allegedly dragged Moreno out of the apartment by her hair "in what appeared to be against her will" and put her into a black Nissan sedan, the affidavit states. Anderson, Moreno and the two other people left in the car. This was the last time Moreno was seen alive by witnesses.
Ex-girlfriend allegedly receives message about fatal stabbing
The ex-girlfriend told detectives she received a Facebook Messenger text message from one of the people who left in the car. The person said Anderson stabbed Moreno, the affidavit states.
"They got rid of the problem," a person messaged the ex-girlfriend.
Police arrested a man who was not connected to the alleged abduction on July 22. The man told officers he had "knowledge of a murder," the affidavit states.
The man said he was contacted by a person nicknamed "Tattoo," who told the man they were looking for people to help in "cleaning up" an apartment in exchange for drugs and money, the affidavit states.
The man later attended a "kick-back" at the Leavell Avenue apartment, where Anderson allegedly told him that she wanted to remove a body from an apartment.
Anderson allegedly told the man that she "killed a (expletive)" and needed the body to be dumped in New Mexico, the affidavit states.
Police find body while investigating unrelated murder case
El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit detectives were investigating an unrelated murder case at an apartment in the 3600 block of Fred Wilson Avenue when a resident flagged them down.
The resident said that another apartment had a "foul smell" coming from it. The apartment was less than a mile away from where Moreno was last seen.
Officers made a forced entry into the apartment and found Moreno's body. She was surrounded by what is believed to be a large pool of blood in the living room area. Moreno was wrapped in a shower curtain, "indicating an attempt to conceal the body," the affidavit states. A plastic bag was also found wrapped around her head. There was a bottle of bleach also wrapped up alongside Moreno.
The bathroom had suspected blood and what appeared to be an attempted clean-up, the affidavit states. Investigators allegedly found Anderson's fingerprint at the Fred Wilson Avenue apartment.
An autopsy conducted on Moreno showed the cause of death was "multiple stab wounds and strangulation," the affidavit states.
El Paso man reports alleged murder to off-duty cop
A person flagged down an off-duty police officer working at a Walmart on Dyer Street. The name of the person is not included in the affidavit. An officer wrote that the person "will remain unidentified in this affidavit due to fear of retaliation."
The person told the officer that Anderson came to his Dyer Street apartment, requesting help to dispose of a body at the Fred Wilson apartment. Anderson allegedly offered $250 in exchange for disposing of the body.
The person did not know the name of the alleged victim, but he described her as having a "clown design tattoo around the eye area," the affidavit states. The person added that Anderson said she stabbed the alleged victim in the neck while another person held the victim down, the affidavit states.
The person accused of holding Moreno down was one of the last people seen with Moreno. The other person seen with the group watched the killing but did not intervene, the source told officers.
The source claimed the reason Anderson stabbed Moreno "was because of drugs," the affidavit states.
Detectives obtained surveillance video captured about 6:30 a.m. July 18 from the area around the Fred Wilson apartment. The video showed a woman matching Moreno's description and wearing the same clothing in which she was found dead, getting out of the black Nissan sedan.
The video allegedly shows another woman who matches Anderson's description, the affidavit states. The video shows Anderson, Moreno and another woman meeting in a hallway.
The three women enter an apartment. The video shows Anderson and another woman leaving the apartment about 6:30 a.m., the affidavit states. Moreno's body was found in that apartment.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Missing for a month, El Paso woman's fate ends in murder arrest
