Texas Man Murdered Woman After He Took Her Out On Date To Concert
Erika Andrea Gaytan appeared happy when she posted on social media from the event in El Paso.
El Paso Police Department
A Texas woman appeared to be having a great time as she posted on social media while on a date at a concert. Hours later, she went missing and police eventually charged the man she was with that night with her murder.
According to the El Paso Times, on July 13, 2019, Erika Andrea Gaytan, a 29-year-old mother of a then 7-year-old son, went with Ricardo Marquez to an El Reencuentro Norteño concert at the El Paso County Coliseum.
During the concert, Gaytan posted multiple times on social media as she and Marquez watched Los Rieleros del Norte, Polo Urias and La Maquinaria Norteña perform.
After the concert ended, Marquez claimed he drove his date back to his home and, he alleged, they got into a fight so Gaytan ordered a ride-share service and left.
On July 16, Gaytan’s family reported the mother missing, KFOX-TV reported.
Homicide detectives wrote in a criminal complaint obtained by the El Paso Times that a search of Gaytan’s phone records indicated she never requested or used a ride-share service the night of the concert.
Investigators learned Marquez, who drove a Ford Crown Victoria, asked to borrow a Jeep Wrangler from his brother. Blood later was found on a cargo mat in the vehicle.
Authorities also determined Marquez asked his sister for a shovel around the same time, and video pulled from security cameras showed a Jeep Wrangler heading to and from the Red Sands desert.
A search of Marquez’s home turned up sand-filled shoes and plastic ties that appeared to have been used as restraints, according to police.
Marquez was arrested on a murder charge in December 2019. In June 2022, a jury found Marquez guilty of murder and a judge sentenced him to 75 years in prison.
Despite multiple searches, Gaytan’s remains have never been found.
“We ask that someone continues to help us find the remains of Erika that would give us the peace that we’ve missed all these years,” Guadalupe Gaytan, the victim’s mother, said after Marquez’s murder conviction.
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