Eileen Orta, MSG, body found by family

[KittyMom]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331168,00.html

Family Finds Missing Woman in Minivan After Cops Call Them to Pick Up Illegally Parked Vehicle
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

POMONA, Calif. — A woman reported missing for several days was found stabbed to death in a minivan by family members who were called by police to pick up the vehicle because it was illegally parked near a California courthouse, according to reports.

Relatives found the body of Eileen Orta, 22, on Friday, three days after filing a missing person's report on her, Lt. Ron McDonald said.

Tracy Ponce, the victim's mother, discovered her daughter under a pile of blankets in the minivan parked near Pomona Superior Court, MyFOXLA.com reports.

"I pulled one blanket and that's when I saw my daughter's leg. I saw her leg and her toes," Ponce told MyFOXLA.com. "I said 'Oh my God.'"

The report gave a full description of Orta and the van, and was entered into a national law enforcement database, he said.

When the van was found parked in a space reserved for a police official near the courthouse, police notified Orta's family to pick it up before it was impounded.

"There's no way the officer could have known her body was in there," Pomona Police Chief Joe Romeo told MyFOXLA.com.

Romeo said that officers didn't have the right to search the vehicle or break the windows to get in, but Ponce said the windows were rolled down when she arrived to pick up the vehicle, MyFOXLA.com reports.

Orta was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy determined she died of a stab wound to the neck, said Los Angeles County Coroner Lt. Cheryl MacWillie.

Her death was under investigation, police said.

"I know the detectives are working hard on the case, but someone screwed up," Ponce told KABC-TV.

"When they found the car ... they knew it was a missing person's car," Ponce said. "They did not search it. My daughter could have been alive. What if she was still alive at that time, just dying or needing care?"

Officers often don't force their way into abandoned vehicles, police Sgt. Horace Blehr said.

"In hindsight, we're pretty ready to admit we could have gone over [the van] better," he said.



Ya think? :eyebrow1qb:

[Roamer]

How horrifying for her family to have found her like that. I know of an officer or two that should be suspended at the very least. The windows were down. The car and the woman were listed on the NCIC, but apparently they didn't hear or read the reports, huh? Disgusting.

[Roenick]

If she were missing wouldn't the car be possible evidence? Wouldn't they have a right to search it and hold it?

Why would they let family come and pick it up?

[Roamer]

Because they were morons?

[KittyMom]

http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5829990&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1

A “person of interest” is behind bars Wednesday morning, in connection with the stabbing death of a woman whose body was discovered in her van.

[KittyMom]

Given that the van was parked in a reserved space for LE, I'd think that her killer was wanting her to be found.

[packy]

How horrible for the mom to find her body. They are doing an internal investigation according to the link and we all know how it should turn out. So sad.

[Grande]

Police return van with dead body inside
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

POMONA (KABC) -- Police made the announcement about a "person of interest" Tuesday. They say he is a family member, but not the woman's husband.

Police arrested that person over the weekend, but the real question on people's minds is how police could find the van with the body in a parking lot, not check the inside of it, and then turn the van over to the family so they have to discover the body themselves.

"What I would say to anyone who's lost a daughter or mother or wife, is no words can express the loss," said Chief Joe Romero, Pomona Police Dept. "On behalf of the Pomona Police Department, as leader of this department, we're sorry, and we feel your pain."

Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero said the entire process was under review from start to finish. But they want the public to keep their eyes on the ball, prosecuting a suspect.

"And I can tell you that in this case, certainly our officer had no malice to bring to the family," said Chief Romero. "The person who truly has hurt this family is the killer. And we are doing our job to bring him to justice."

The victim is 22-year-old Eileen Orta. A relative of her husband Joseph Orta is a person of interest. He was arrested Saturday on a parole violation.
Meanwhile, in an interview Monday, family of the victim expressed frustration over how all of this could happen.

"I know the detectives are working hard on the case, but someone screwed up," said Tracy Ponce, Eileen Orta's mother. "I'm so angry -- for me as a mother -- I was not expecting to find my daughter's body there."

Police say the officer who gave the van back to the family did not do anything wrong. Policy states that all that was required was a cursory look over the vehicle, and the officer did just that. However, they say they are checking the policy over from start to finish to see if anything needs to be reviewed.

Police are looking for another person of interest in a blue vehicle. Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact authorities at the "We Tip Hotline" at (800) 78-CRIME (800-782-7463).

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=5968430

[Roamer]

Darn it, the van and the woman were entered into the NCIC. There's no reason for them not to recognize it, or to run the plate and find out it was wanted.

[KittyMom]

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/rds_search/ci_8310890?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com

A relative of the husband of a Covina woman found slain in her van by family members after police turned over her vehicle to them was named "a person of interest" in the case Tuesday.

Police are not calling Joseph Orta, 34, a suspect, but the reputed gang member was arrested on a parole violation Saturday. He is being held in state prison.

Police would not say how Orta was related to the victim's husband, Nick Ponce-Orta.

Police say a witness told investigators that Orta had been seen with the victim's 2-year-old daughter getting out of a mid-sized blue car just after noon Thursday at a relative's home in Azusa. That relative then dropped the toddler off at the Covina police station, said Tracy Ponce, the victim's mother.

Orta, a former gang member out of Azusa, was convicted for the 2001 attempted murder of his step-father, according to family members.

Daniel Juarez, an uncle of the victim, said the family immediately suspected Orta when they realized Ponce-Orta was missing.

"I believe in my heart he is the one who did this," Juarez said.

He said Ponce-Orta and her husband Nick had taken in Joseph Orta after he got out of prison.

Juarez said the couple had tried to help Orta, but they eventually asked him to leave when he showed romantic interest in Eileen.

[Grande]

I'm going to go ahead and move this thread to the 'Missing Persons Located - Foul Play Suspected' Forum. I don't think the media was informed of the case until after the body was found. Knowing what we know now, I think it would best be served in that forum. This is such a tragedy!

My hear goes out to everyone involved. :1222423:

[Grande]

Parolee Named 'Person of Interest' in Death of Woman Found in Minivan
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
MyFOXLA.com

POMONA, Calif. — A parolee was named a "person of interest" Tuesday in the stabbing death of a woman whose body was found in a minivan by family members who were called by police to pick up the vehicle.

Joseph Gary Orta, 34, was questioned in the killing of Eileen Ponce-Orta, 22, who was found fatally stabbed in the neck on Saturday, police said.

Police did not disclose the relationship between the two. Ponce-Orta's uncle, Daniel Suarez, said Orta was staying with the victim and her husband after he was released from prison.

Relatives who had reported Ponce-Orta missing on Valentine's Day were called several days later by police telling them her minivan was illegally parked in a lot near the police station. Police told them to pick up the vehicle before it was impounded.

Ponce-Orta's mother said that when she checked the van she discovered her daughter's body buried under blankets, clothing and other objects

She said she was angry no one checked inside the van before releasing it to her.

Pomona police Chief Joe Romero said his department has launched an investigation into the action of the officer who found the vehicle.

He said the officer ran a check of the van's license plate and learned it was related to a missing person's report filed in Covina. The officer called Covina police and was told to release the van to the family or it would be impounded, Romero said.

"By protocol, under the circumstances the officer worked under a set of information that made him decide that doing a cursory look from outside the van was sufficient," Romero said. "As we know now, it wasn't."

The victim's family disagreed, saying that police knew Ponce-Orta was missing and should have conducted a thorough search of the van.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331571,00.html

[Grande]

Man sought in stabbing of stepdad
Author: Rodney Tanaka Staff Writer
Date: December 8, 2001
Publication: San Gabriel Valley Tribune (West Covina, CA)

WEST COVINA -- Police were searching Friday for Joseph Gary Orta, 28, who allegedly stabbed his stepfather during an argument. Police responded to a stabbing in the 200 block of South Pima Avenue at 8:50 p.m. Thursday. Orta argued with his stepfather, Raul Sanchez, 26, over Orta's alleged alcohol abuse, West Covina Police Lt. Mark Dettor said.

Sanchez suffered cuts to his neck and scalp and a puncture wound to his left side during the fight, although no knife has been found,

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SGVB&p_theme=sgvb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FAEA8F938EE1CCC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

[Grande]

Alleged killer formally charged
By Will Bigham, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/06/2008 10:51:13 PM PDT

POMONA - Prosecutors filed murder charges Friday against a man accused of killing a 22-year-old Covina woman in February and leaving her body in a van parked near Pomona City Hall.

Joseph Gary Orta, 34, is accused of stabbing Eileen Nicole Ponce-Orta to death.

Orta is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 1 in Pomona Superior Court, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Ponce-Orta and her husband allowed Orta to stay in their home when he was released from prison, family members said.

Orta reportedly had a romantic interest in Ponce-Orta. Family members believe Ponce- Orta's rejection of the ex-convict may have prompted the murder.

Ponce-Orta was reporting missing Feb. 14 after a family member dropped off Ponce- Orta's 2-year-old daughter at Covina Police Department because Ponce-Orta could not be found.

Pomona police found Ponce- Orta's van in a Pomona City Hall parking lot the morning of Feb. 15, but only conducted a cursory search of the vehicle.

Family members have complained that police did not thoroughly search the van, which had its doors unlocked and windows down, even after learning that Ponce-Orta had been reported missing.

Officers called family members to recover the seemingly abandoned van, and when family members arrived they found Ponce-Orta stabbed to death under a pile of blankets and clothing.

Family members of Ponce- Orta have filed a civil complaint against the city of Pomona seeking monetary damages for family members' injuries and mental anguish as a result the grim discovery.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_10401447