GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. — Four people have been arrested as part of a homicide investigation after the discovery of human remains near Rifle.
The Garfield County Sheriff's Office said in a release that on Dec. 26, law enforcement officers and members of Garfield County Search and Rescue searched an area near Fravert Reservoir off County Road 244.
They were searching for the body of a missing person based on tips they had received, according to the sheriff's office. The remains, later identified as 43-year-old Raul Perez, were found after a search that took about two hours.
The Garfield County coroner determined that Perez's body had been there since last summer, and deputies began a homicide investigation that led to the arrests of four people this week on the following charges.
Angel Luis Cosme-Marquez, 54
- First-degree murder
- Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder
- Distribution of a controlled substance - fentanyl
- Special offender - deadly weapon
- Conspiracy - controlled substances - fentanyl
- Tampering with a deceased human body
- Three counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with a deceased human body
- Tampering with physical evidence
Manuela Zapata-Castillo, 42
- Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder
- Distribution of a controlled substance - fentanyl
- Special offender - deadly weapon
- Conspiracy - controlled substances - fentanyl
- Four counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with a deceased human body
- Accessory to crime
- Tampering with physical evidence
Phillip Allen Johnson, 28
- Tampering with a deceased human body
- Accessory to crime
- Three counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with a deceased human body
- Tampering with physical evidence
Joseph Patrick Moffat, 38
- Tampering with a deceased human body
- Accessory to crime
- Three counts of conspiracy to commit tampering with a deceased human body
- Tampering with physical evidence
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