‘Odor of death’ coming from car trunk leads to missing woman’s body, Texas officials say
Flies buzzing around a car and the strong “odor of death” led officers to the trunk of a car where a missing mother’s body was decomposing, Texas officials said.
Now, the 49-year-old man accused of tampering with her corpse, Christopher Lee Maldonado, has been found guilty and sentenced to 120 days in jail and 10 years of probation, Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Jack Roady said in a March 4 news release.
Maldonado’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on March 6.
Angela Mitchell was reported missing on May 6, 2022, as friends worried why she didn’t show up to pick up her infant son, prosecutors said.
Her cousin used the Find My Friends app on her phone to track her last known location to near the home of Maldonado in Texas City, according to the district attorney’s office. Mitchell was a sex worker, and her “last known job” was May 5 at Maldonado’s home, prosecutors said.
Mitchell’s mother reported her missing, which led police to her decomposing body in Texas City on May 11, 2022, prosecutors said.
During Maldonado’s February trial, an acquaintance testified that Maldonado paid him $200 to move the vehicle where Mitchell’s body was later found, according to the district attorney’s office. At the time, the acquaintance said he did not know there was a body in the trunk.
The person enlisted the help of two teens looking to make “quick cash,” prosecutors said. One of the teens testified that she found the body in the trunk, according to prosecutors.
Because Mitchell’s body was in stages of decomposition when it was found approximately five days after she was reported missing, her cause of death could not be determined, prosecutors said. However, natural causes and overdose were ruled out.
Maldonado’s ex-wife testified during his sentencing that he tried to strangle her, according to prosecutors. Maldonado is also facing a felony charge for strangulation, prosecutors said.
Maldonado is currently in custody, according to jail records.
