Leticia Martinez-Cosman and Brett Gitchel (Seattle Police Department)
A 46-year-old man in Seattle, Washington, is behind bars after police say that he attended a Major League Baseball game last week with a woman who has not been seen or heard from since leaving the stadium and is presumed dead.
Brett Gitchel was taken into custody on Thursday "for investigation of murder and kidnapping" in connection with the disappearance of 58-year-old Leticia Martinez-Cosman, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Seattle Police Department, Gitchel and Martinez-Cosman were last seen together on the evening of March 31, attending a Seattle Mariners game at T-Mobile Park. Martinez-Cosman has not been seen or contacted her family or friends since the game.
Authorities described Martinez-Cosman as 5 foot 9 and weighing about 135 pounds with green eyes and brown hair.
Gitchel has not been formally charged in the case, but a King County judge on Friday ruled that prosecutors showed probable cause to hold Gitchel as they continue investigating Martinez-Cosman's disappearance, The Seattle Times reported.
In addition to the murder and kidnapping investigation, police say Gitchel is also being held for investigation into an alleged assault, theft, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The latter allegations stem from Martinez-Cosman's son being abducted and the theft of jewelry.
According to the Times, Martinez-Cosman and a friend first met Gitchel at a Seattle Costco on March 19 and made plans to attend the March 31 baseball game. Martinez-Cosman reportedly sent that friend a selfie of herself and Gitchel at the game, which the friend later turned over to police.
The day after the game, Martinez-Cosman's brother reportedly began receiving "odd and uncharacteristic" text messages from her phone. It was not immediately clear what the messages said, but his attempts to call Martinez-Cosman reportedly went straight to voicemail.
Several hours later, about 2 a.m. on Sunday, Martinez-Cosman's son — who lives with Martinez-Cosman and has been diagnosed with learning disabilities — was awakened by an unknown man inside the home and knocking on his bedroom door, the Times reported. The man reportedly convinced the son to get in his SUV, telling him that Martinez-Cosman had been in an accident and they had to get to the hospital.
However, after driving around for some time, the man allegedly stopped the SUV, went into the back seat, and tried to strangle who was seated in the passenger seat. The son later told police that while the unknown man was trying to kill him, he told the son that he was "doing this for his mother and that this was to spare him from being committed to an institution because of his conditions," a police affidavit reportedly states.
The son reportedly escaped by biting the man's arm, then called his father in Texas, who contacted the authorities. Police said they found the son covered in blood when they arrived and informed officers that he had not heard from his mother since Friday, the Times reported.
In a grim turn of events, Seattle firefighters responded to a vehicle fire about 7 a.m. on Sunday less than 2 miles from T-Mobile stadium. The vehicle, which was described as "fully engulfed" in flames, was identified as belonging to Martinez-Cosman and determined to have been torched using an accelerant, the Times repThely, the Costco store where Martinez-Cosman and Gitchel first met filed a police report after $10,000 in jewelry was stolen on Tuesday. The store reportedly provided investigators with surveillance footage showing Gitchel and a vehicle registered in his name at the scene during the theft.
He was reportedly arrested at a different Costco location after employees recognized him from security photos being circulated and held him until police arrived.