One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Search for Bodies of Infants Slain By Their Dad Continues at Second Landfill
Photo by VeryBadLady via Flickr
Authorities have turned their sights to a second landfill where perhaps they might find the bodies of two infant boys thought to have been murdered by their own father. The killings, which took place in mid-April, also claimed the life of the boys' mother, whose body was found April 25, and identified at the morgue a week later.After no bodies turned up at the Brea landfill, detectives with the Orange police department are now using cadaver dogs at The Frank Bowerman Landfill to search for the missing boys' remains, according to City News Service.
The infants, ages one year old and three months old, may have been killed by Shazer Fernando Limas, 31, who has been charged with three counts of murder. Limas is suspected of fatally stabbing his estranged girlfriend, Arlet Hernandez Contreras, who is the boys' mother.
Limas was arrested May 3, after being taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol following a wild high-speed chase.
The suspect is thought to have killed Contreras on April 14. The following day, he sought treatment at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for a cut to his hand that required surgery. Ten days later, he purchased a tarp from Home Depot, and moved out of the apartment. That tarp was found with Contreras' body near the junction of the Pomona (60) and San Gabriel (605) freeways by county workers alarmed by a putrid smell.
The suspect moved out of the family's apartment on April 28, and turned in his keys.
A motive for the killings also has not been established, and Limas hasn't revealed where the boys' bodies might be. "He hasn't explained what happened," offers Orange Police Sgt. Adams.
Detectives learned that trash from the apartment complex was also destined for the second landfill in Irvine. The new search started this morning, Adams said, adding that he expected the painstaking process to last about four days.
Sponsored message
Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons has not yet decided if Limas will face the death penalty, though the multiple murder charges filed against him make the suspect eligible. Limas will be arraigned May 23. He was denied bail.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
