By David Lohr
December 17, 2007
El Dorado, KS (Crime Library) — Last month investigators found the body of missing community college student Emily Sander, 18, dumped along a highway in Woodson County. The autopsy results have yet to be released, however investigators have confirmed her death was a homicide. The suspect in Emily's murder, 24-year-old Israel Mireles, has been the subject of a nation-wide manhunt. Police have now filed sex charges against Mireles, stemming from his relationship with his 16-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Victoria Martens, who is thought to be traveling with him.
According to the felony warrant, Mireles is suspected of committing indecent liberties with a child 15 years of age. The crime is a Level 3 Felony, which carries a maximum sentence of 247 months in prison.
The sex crime allegedly occurred around May 7, 2007, roughly four months before Martens sixteenth birthday. Mireles is also believed to be the father of Marten's unborn child. She is expected to give birth in January.
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Emily Sander |
Emily Sanders went missing on the night of Nov. 23, when she was seen leaving the Retreat Bar in El Dorado with Mireles, a man she is believed to have met that same night. During a search of Mireles's motel room, police discovered "a large quantity of blood," and a bedspread was found to be missing. Concerned for the young woman's safety, police launched a nationwide manhunt for Mireles.
Investigators soon learned Mireles had rented a 2007 Ford Taurus earlier on Saturday and had traveled to Baxter Springs, where he picked up Martens. On Nov. 27, police in Texas discovered the rental car abandoned in Vernon, about 50 miles northwest of Wichita Falls. Texas authorities impounded the vehicle and examined it for forensic evidence. What, if anything, was found is not yet known.
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