Immigration authorities in Chicago have apprehended a Mexican illegal immigrant who is accused of beheading a missing woman from Illinois and housing her body in a bleach-filled storage container.
The individual, Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, aged 52, from Waukegan, Illinois, was taken into custody in April and faced charges of concealing a corpse, disrespecting a corpse, and obstructing justice, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Immediately after his first court appearance, Lake County Judge Randie Bruno released Mendoza-Gonzalez from custody.
On Saturday afternoon, he was detained once more at a Chicago market by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and is currently held in ICE custody, as per DHS information.
ICE agents arrested Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez in Chicago Saturday. (DHS)
After Mendoza-Gonzalez’s release in April, Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner criticized laws that allowed the suspected criminal alien to be released, according to a report from affiliate FOX 32 Chicago.
“I was shocked to find out literally the next day that the person that they had arrested for this had been released from prison under the SAFE-T Act less than, detained less, I think, than 48 hours,” Gartner said. “There’s other extenuating circumstances in this case. Not only the type of crime, how long the crime was concealed, the fact that the person that was arrested for this is not a U.S. citizen, and, you know, can maybe [flee] the country.”
Mendoza-Gonzalez allegedly told authorities Bos overdosed at his house and, instead of calling 911, he broke her phone and kept her body in the basement for two days before moving it outside, according to the report.
Republican state Rep. Tom Weber expressed concern about Mendoza-Gonzalez’s release in April.
“Someone that hid their body in a garbage can for 51 days after leaving it in the basement for two days, after not calling 911 [and] breaking a phone. Is this a non-detainable offense?” Weber said. “Should we not find out, wait for a toxicology report, anything?”
