WEST VALLEY CITY — Police are looking for a man they say is responsible for the death of a West Valley City woman whose body was found in Colorado.
Maria Maricela Astorga-Chavez, 32, was found dead Sunday afternoon on the side of I-70 in Summit County, Colorado. A Colorado Department of Transportation employee discovered her body, and police Thursday positively identified her as Astorga-Chavez.
Astorga-Chavez was likely killed in West Valley City, said West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku.
Police are looking for Javier Huerta in connection with the woman's death. Astorga-Chavez was reportedly last seen getting into a white Ford Expedition with Huerta on Aug. 6.
Astorga-Chavez voluntarily got into the Expedition with Huerta, though she was acting unusually, according to Vainuku. Police sent out information on Aug. 13 asking for the public's help finding her.
"Right now it's not clear exactly where she was planning to go or what she was planning to do, but we do know she left willingly with him at some point," Vainuku said.
Police are still piecing together a reason for the alleged killing, she said.
"We don't know of a motive at this point," Vainuku said. "What we do know is that these two apparently were acquaintances. But we don't know the extent of their relationship beyond that."
Vainuku declined to specify where in West Valley City Astorga-Chavez may have been killed.
"We believe that location could be a key element in our investigation at this point," she said.
The Ford Expedition Huerta was reportedly using was found by police away from the suspected scene of the killing, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
Police say Huerta is a Hispanic man, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighs around 160 pounds. He frequently uses the name Jorge Martinez as an alias, according to Vainuku.
Police dont' know much else about Huerta except that he is in his 20s or 30s and had lived in West Valley City briefly before Astorga-Chavez disappeared. It's not known whether Huerta is in Utah, Colorado or somewhere else, Vainuku said.
It will be a matter of weeks before autopsy results reveal Astorga-Chavez's cause of death and how long she was dead before her body was found.
West Valley police are asking for the public's help in finding Huerta. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 801-840-4000.
Contributing: Marc Giauque
Email: blockhart@deseretnews.com
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