18-Year-Old Vanishes On Way to Meet Her Mom — 5 Years Later, a Suspect Is Charged

Photo: Missing Zoe Campos/Facebook

It was five years ago this past Saturday that 18-year-old Zoe Campos vanished without a trace in Texas. On Friday, police in Lubbock announced a break in the case and filed a felony murder charge against 25-year-old Carlos Andrew Rodriquez.

PEOPLE obtained the arrest warrant detailing the allegations against Rodriquez.

The defendant is being held on $500,000 bond and is currently serving a four-year prison sentence following his recent conviction on stalking charges.

The warrant alleges that in March, an inmate at the Lubbock County Detention Center approached authorities, claiming to have information pertinent to the Campos investigation. The inmate allegedly told police Rodriquez boasted about getting away with murder, saying, “They’ve searched the land already, they’re not gonna find the body until they move the concrete.”

Earlier this month, police with cadaver dogs searched the property, and found bones that were eventually identified as belonging to an animal, not a human.

The warrant further alleges Rodriquez confessed to authorities that he killed Campos, telling them the girl drove to his residence in the early morning hours of Nov. 18, 2013, after a mutual friend introduced the two of them only hours before. Later, he allegedly admitted to choking the teen to death.

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Medical examiners are still working to identify the human remains that were recovered from the Lubbock site last week.

The arrest warrant alleges Rodriquez previously denied knowing anything about Campos’ disappearance.

The warrant doesn’t mention a possible motive.

Carlos Andrew Rodriquez.Lubbock County Detention Center

Over the weekend, Campos’ relatives issued a statement on the developments.

“A family is left broken and shattered after holding out hope that one day they would be able to hug their daughter,” reads the statement. “For five years we have been waiting for answers, through pleas, anger, tears, and hope and through those five years, you have loved us, supported us, shared Zoe, and had every emotion we have had.”

It was unclear Monday if Rodriquez had appeared before a judge to enter a plea to the felony murder charge he faces. It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer.

source: people.com