CHICAGO (WLS) — Over the weekend, a man named Jose Mendoza-Gonzalez was taken off the street in Chicago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as they claim he is a suspected criminal.
According to an ICE website, he’s now been transferred, and is currently in a regional detention center in Indiana.
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“When I found out that he was picked up, I was absolutely stunned,” Jennifer Bos told ABC7 Chicago’s Maher Kawash on Sunday.
She says Mendoza-Gonzalez’s existence and relative freedom outside of jail has haunted her for months.
“I’m left with what I’m left with, you know, which is just the thoughts of what he did to her,” Bos said.
Back in April, authorities in Lake County, Illinois, discovered the body of Megan, the missing adult daughter of Bos from Antioch. Her body was found hidden in a trash can located on Mendoza-Gonzalez’s property in Waukegan.
According to hand-written Waukegan police reports and documents filed in Lake County court, Mendoza-Gonzalez is accused of “concealing the death of a person who died from non-homicidal causes,” “destroying physical evidence by smashing and disposing of a cell phone,” and abusing a corpse.
On April 12, two months after Megan Bos’ death, a Lake County judge ruled he was “not charged with a detention-eligible offense.”
Mendoza-Gonzalez signed his pre-trial release form, agreeing to no contact with Jennifer Bos.
Initially, Bos says, she didn’t want ICE to come after the man living in the U.S. without legal authorization charged with hiding her deceased daughter.
“I really wanted him to face the consequence of what he did,” Bos said.
Illinois law prevents local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities.
State Rep. Tom Weber has worked on Jennifer Bos’ case for months.
“We have an individual that was willing to put the body of a young lady in a garbage can, pour bleach over, smash a phone so no one can track it. That person should never be allowed to be a citizen, and should be deported instantly,” Weber said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday Mendoza-Gonzalez was arrested by ICE.
Jennifer Bos says that brings her some relief.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said his office is now preparing a request for Mendoza-Gonzalez to be held locally rather than deported.
Rinehart says he believes a criminal trial and jail sentence is a more appropriate form of justice for Megan Bos’ family.
When ABC7 Chicago pressed ICE for answers on Mendoza-Gonzalez’s status they referred the I-Team back to a press release about his arrest by their agents.
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