nset: Krista Hunt (Skagit County Sheriff's Office). Background: Juan Delgado appears in Skagit County court (KING/YouTube). I
A man in Washington is accused of killing his girlfriend and dumping her body in a river after authorities say they found clumps of her hair and blood in his truck.
Juan Delgado, 42, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 37-year-old Krista Hunt, the Skagit County Sheriff's Office announced. He was being held at the Skagit County Jail "on un-related charges" when the murder charge was issued.
Hunt was reporting missing on Feb. 1, according to a flyer released by the law enforcement agency. "She was reported to last be seen in the Concrete area," the flyer stated, referring to a rural town in the northern part of the state.
Hunt's mother, Pamela Hunt, told Seattle-based NBC affiliate KING that her daughter was last seen on Jan. 25, with a man believed to be her boyfriend, and that she had run out of gas near a restaurant in the town and gotten out of a truck to walk. The mother also alleged Delgado was abusive.
"She did in fact have a broken leg," Pamela Hunt said of one occasion where she had to take her daughter to the hospital. "She said he had boot-stomped her leg and her chest … She said one time he set a timer and told her he was going to hit her every 15 minutes."
An affidavit shared by the TV station shows that when a deputy contacted Delgado by phone on Feb. 1, the defendant said he had not heard from her in five days yet wanted to return her two dogs. Delgado also "explained there had been issues in his and Krista's relationship in the past but believed they were currently on good terms."
Two days after Krista Hunt was reported missing, Delgado reportedly shot himself at a bar in the small Washington town. He survived and later told authorities that he "missed Krista."
Weeks after she went missing, a body was found in the Skagit River, which runs right beneath Concrete. The Skagit County Sheriff's Office announced on March 18, the county coroner had confirmed the remains as belonging to Krista Hunt.
The coroner could not determine an exact cause of death but detailed injuries such as a broken neck, a broken jaw, and broken ribs, according to KING. Delgado had reportedly told friends his girlfriend had been hit by a car.
Delgado is being detained on $1 million bail.
The victim's family has been left distraught by her death.
"I can't imagine the pain my mom is going through right now," Hunt's brother told KING. "I know the pain I'm going through. And it's hard … He stole 60 years of my relationship with Krista."