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Suspect in custody in Pueblo homicide

Victim's remains were in a suitcase
Euclid search warrant
Dumpster find
Posted at 12:06 PM, Oct 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-21 14:58:02-04

PUEBLO — Pueblo Police confirmed they arrested Anthony "Antonio" Cuevas, 36, and his wife Melanie Cuevas, 36, Friday afternoon.

Anthony Cuevas was arrested for first degree murder and a parole violation. Melanie Cuevas was arrested on a warrant for criminal impersonation. There could be additional charges in the future.

Officers are not currently looking for any other suspects.

PREVIOUS: Officers from the Pueblo Police Department, as well as parole officers and detectives, have located two suspects related to Thursday's homicide and taken them into custody. They were found near Adolfo's Restaurant, along with a second suspect.

Thursday morning a body was discovered in a suitcase that had been left in at dumpster at a car wash on Ivywood Lane.

Detectives spent much of Friday at a home in the 800 block of Euclid Avenue in Pueblo, working to gather evidence related to the case.

Investigators believe the homicide took place at that home.

They have named Anthony "Antonio" Cuevas, 36, as a person of interest. Police say he was recently released from prison and was wanted for a parole violation. They are unsure if he's armed so anyone who sees him is urged to contact police immediately.

"He's a person of interest, people are putting on Facebook that you know we have an arrest warrant and all this other stuff, at this point we don't have that," said Pueblo Police Dept. Sgt. Franklyn Ortega. Ortega also says investigators believe the homicide took place at the home on Euclid.

Police have located the car seen in the video, a Nissan Versa. They have not said where it was found, but they are processing it for evidence.

The name of the victim is not being released at this time. Only the coroner will release the name officially. Authorities say the female victim was wearing an Air Force T-shirt and M&M candy shorts, Police say she had a distinctive tattoo on her right thigh of a female clown along with other tattoos.

Multiple neighbors in the area near the 800 block of Euclid told News 5 they believe the victim is a woman named Mary Garcia. Police have not confirmed that identity.

One neighbor did say the bits of information police had released triggered her memory. "From my understanding, she was found in M&M shorts, which I can say I have seen the lady down the street wearing probably those same shorts," said neighbor Reyna Garcia.

Sgt. Ortega understands people are looking for answers about this crime, including turning to social media to identify the suspect and the victim, yet he reminds everyone that police always try to protect the integrity of their investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call Capt. Bravo at (719) 320-6049, Sgt. Purvis at (719) 320-6047, Detective Torres at (719) 320-6037, or Detective Gravatt at (719) 320-6022. Anyone with information about this case who wants to remain anonymous can call Pueblo Crime Stoppers at 542-STOP (542-7867) or online.

Early Thursday morning, patrol officers were called to the car wash on Ivywood for a report of a suspicious package. Those officers soon reached out to detectives to manage the scene. A public information officer only said what was being investigated "was not explosive." However, everyone's attention was drawn to a dumpster with plastic wrap over the top being moved to allow investigators a closer look.

Surveillance video from two different angles was released late Thursday showing a sedan drive up to the dumpster. A suspect who appears to be male open the trunk to retrieve a suitcase which was tossed into the dumpster.