Missing Renton woman found dead in Mexico

Family mourns Renton woman found dead in Mexico

Reyna Hernandez, who owns a hair salon in Renton, was kidnapped and found dead with signs of torture in Mexico.

RENTON, Wash. - The body of a missing Renton woman was found in Mexico last week, authorities confirmed Monday, and a suspect is already in custody across the border.

Renton Police say 54-year-old Reyna Hernandez, who went missing from her home in South Renton on Feb. 26, was found dead near Mexicali on March 8. Mexicali is the capital of Baja California, and is situated east of Tijuana, right across the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to Renton Police, detectives were directed to a news article from Mexicali, reporting an unidentified body found in a cemetery on the Tijuana Highway. They reached out to Mexican authorities and were able to identify the body as that of Hernandez.

A 61-year-old man from Renton was arrested in Mexicali unrelated charges. Renton Police say he is a suspect in this case.

Family told FOX 13 that the man arrested was Hernandez's partner.

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Authorities confirmed there were signs of torture, saying Hernandez was bound at the hands and feet, shot in the head and wrapped in a blanket.

"This is the worst possible outcome, and our hearts go out to Reyna’s family and friends," said Investigations Commander Chandler Swain. "We are working closely with Mexicali police and our U.S. Federal partners to determine when and where Reyna was killed."

Hernandez has not been seen since Feb. 26, and her friends reported her missing on Feb. 28 when she did not return home from running errands.

Her sister, 47-year-old Sara Carillo, last spoke to Hernandez on Feb. 24. She said her sister sounded happy and had gone dancing that night.

Clients told family members that Hernandez experienced domestic violence, and said that she had a black eye at her salon before she went missing.

Carillo says Hernandez was a dreamer, a hardworking and emphatic person with a lot of love to give.

"I walk into the salon and I smell her perfume, sense her joy, and hear all the stories that people share when they come," Carillo told FOX 13 in Spanish.

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Authorities say once Hernandez's time and manner of death are confirmed, they can determine where she was killed. If evidence shows she was killed in the U.S., Renton Police say they will ask for the suspect to be extradited for trial in the States.