Inset: Meagan Gonzales (GoFundMe). Background: Joey Emiliano Tovar-Vargas after his arrest for tampering with evidence in Gonzales' death (Bexar County Sheriff's Office).
A Texas man allegedly set his girlfriend's body on fire in 2019 but remained free until Sunday, when new technology let cops mine incriminating data from his cellphone.
Joey Emiliano Tovar-Vargas, 24, is accused of tampering with evidence, namely a corpse, in the death of 20-year-old Meagan Gonzales, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office announced on Sunday.
Gonzales was last seen with Tovar-Vargas in her truck on Nov. 11, 2019, in San Antonio, Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters. She was reported missing four days later.
Authorities recovered her truck on Dec. 2, 2019, at an apartment complex in the 5300 block of Northwest Loop 410. Blood was inside. The next day, cops found her body in a field in the 12000 block of Wisdom Road, more than 20 miles away from her vehicle.
Salazar said her body was burned, badly decomposed and wrapped in a blanket with "distinctive" patterns that would later prove key in arresting Tovar-Vargas years later.
Although investigators long suspected Tovar-Vargas in Gonzales' death, they had been unable to collect any evidence against him. That changed when the cold case unit took another look at her disappearance starting last year. New technology allowed them to further analyze data collected on Tovar-Vargas' phone, which yielded a "treasure trove" of new evidence, Salazar said.
Location data showed the suspect was in the area where cops recovered some of Gonzales' property, the sheriff stated. Detectives also learned he allegedly searched "how long fingerprints last" along with other information such as ways to delete social media.
Several photos also showed the blanket that wrapped the body inside the suspect's home, Salazar said. In addition, a witness came forward to say they saw Tovar-Vargas dumping evidence in the days following the homicide, according to Salazar.
Although cops gathered enough evidence to charge him with tampering with a corpse, they have yet to charge him with murder.
"In a criminal investigation, there's there's what you believe happened, and there's what you can prove happened," Salazar said. "So while we believe we know what happened, we believe that obviously that Mr. Tovar is … responsible in what ultimately happened to Meagan. What we can prove at this point is that he disposed of her body."
Tovar-Vargas is in the Bexar County Jail on a $200,000 bond. His next court date is scheduled for March 29.
Eddie Gonzales, the victim's father, remembered having a dream where he told his daughter he would make sure the person responsible would be held accountable, he said in an interview with local CBS affiliate KENS. He went to her altar after the arrest.
"I told her, 'Meagan, it looks like you're getting your justice that I promised you,'" he said. "Meagan, I hope you get some rest now, as I'm getting it."
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