Suspect arrested after missing woman found dead in desert

EL PASO, Texas — A man is accused of murder in the death of a West Texas woman whose body was found in the desert, authorities said.

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According to a news release from the El Paso Police Department, Christopher Paul Maya, 34, was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in El Paso. He is accused in the death of Michelle Angela Morales-Nakaza, 32, of El Paso, who went missing two weeks ago, the El Paso Times reported.

Maya was booked into the El Paso County Jail on a murder warrant, according to the newspaper.

According to the El Paso Police Department, Morales-Nakaza was reported missing on March 31, KFOX-TV reported. She was last seen four days earlier at a Baskin Robbins location in El Paso, according to KWTX.

The El Paso Police Department said Morales-Nakaza was possibly picked up at the ice cream shop by a man driving a white Toyota Camry, according to the television station.

A missing person bulletin was sent out on Sunday and Morales-Nakaza’s body was found in the Red Sands desert the next day, the Times reported.

A cause of death has not been revealed according to the newspaper.

Maya was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on a warrant for murder, and bail was set at $1 million, the news release stated.

An investigation is ongoing.