Grisly details released in murder of
college student found in Tacoma ravine
TACOMA ? The Pierce County prosecutor requested a 72-hour hold Tuesday on three suspects who were arrested for the gruesome rape and murder of an 18-year-old college student whose body was found dumped in a ravine.
The three defendants ? two men in their late 40s and a 30-year-old woman ? appeared in Pierce County Superior Court Tuesday. They are being held without bail while the investigation continues.
On Feb. 8, Tacoma police received a report of body in a Tacoma ravine near Interstate 5. Officers found a bag containing human body parts, which were badly decomposed. But investigators were able to identify the remains as that of Jesus Isidor-Mendoza, 18, of Lakewood.
The Pierce College student had been missing for four months. He was last seen on Oct. 22, 2014.
The prosecutor?s office said that on the night of the murder, Isidor-Mendoza went to a garage to meet the two male defendants.
?They raped Isidor-Mendoza, drowned him in a bucket of water and cut up his body,? the prosecutor?s office said. ?They packaged the pieces in the nylon bag and kept it in the garage for two days before placing it by the garbage cans.?
When the bag began to smell, the office said, one of the male defendants and the female defendant threw the bag into a ravine.
?Detectives believe this was a drug-related murder,? the prosecutor?s office said.
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said, ?This gruesome scenario could be an extreme anti-drug ad.?