GUILTY NM - Rita Denise Jaramillo, 49, Los Lunas, 19 Sept 2018

[imstilla.grandma]

VALENCIA COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) - The family of Rita Denise Jaramillo says no one has seen or heard from her since last Thursday night. Then, early Sunday morning, her home in Valencia County burned down.

"We think someone did hurt her," said Jaramillo's oldest daughter, Leslie Fay.

Fay says her 49-year-old mother was supposed to come over to her house last Friday morning to get her grandson ready for school, but Jaramillo never showed up.

Fay tells KRQE News 13 neighbors also reported hearing a gunshot on the night her mom went missing. They also reported hearing an argument.
New Mexico grandmother goes missing, then her house burns down


LOS LUNAS, N.M. - A Los Lunas grandmother has been missing for nearly two weeks and now the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating what they call "suspicious circumstances" surrounding the case.

On Saturday, more than 200 people met up to search for 49-year- old Rita Denise Jaramillo. They spread out, searched along the foothills of El Cerro, Monzana mountains and outskirts of Meadow Lake looking for any sign of her.

Investigators are calling her disappearance suspicious because they say her home was intentionally set on fire.

Gutted from flames, firefighters say they found tires in each room of the house, acting as accelerators in the firefight, adding to the mystery. Anchondo says no one saw Rita.

A few days later, police spotted Rita's 2006 Hyundai Sonata in Albuquerque, but then the car was gone, too.
Family, friends desperate to find missing grandmother

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[imstilla.grandma]

 

[JerseyGirl]

Jaramillo's car was found last week, but there is still no sign of her.

Search continues for Los Lunas woman missing for 2 weeks

 

[doodles1211]

Appears she has also gone by the name Rita Denise Fay... this is what NM DPS has her listed under.

New Mexico Missing Persons

 

[GuyfromCanada]

Still missing.

"It’s been four-and-a-half months that we’ve been without our mother, that the kids have been without their grandmother, that my grandparents have been without their daughter," said Jaramillo's daughter Denise Fay.

Rita Denise Jaramillo's home caught fire three days after she was reported missing. That's why her family believes there was foul play.

Family continues to search for missing mother

 

[JEMB135]

New Mexico woman still missing after her mobile home burned down in a “highly suspicious” fire

 

[ADKGemini]

Still nothing...

 

[JerseyGirl]

Seven months after she vanished, Jaramillo's ex-boyfriend, Arthur Lovato, is now facing charges for her murder.

Lovato does have a violent past, pleading guilty to abusing a child and aggravated battery on a peace officer. He is currently serving time in Grants on an unrelated matter.

Suspect's arrest raises more questions for family of missing Los Lunas woman

 

[doodles1211]

'He's evil': Daughter speaks about man accused of killing her mother



Video at link

”She would have done it for us,” said Denise Fay, Rita’s daughter. “She would have been there and she wouldn’t have given up. She raised us not to quit, to keep going and fight for what you love and we love our mom.”

Just a few days after Rita went missing 8 months ago, investigators say her home was intentionally set on fire.

With months of no word, New Mexico State Police now confirm they have her alleged killer, Arthur Lovato, in custody. ....

 

[iulia]

Man pleads not guilty to killing Jaramillo

An Albuquerque man pleaded not guilty to the murder of an El Cerro woman who went missing in the fall of 2018.

Arthur James Lovato, 59, entered his plea before District Court Judge Cindy Mercer on Wednesday, June 12, in response to being charged with the murder of Rita Jaramillo, 49.
[...]
The grand jury indictment of Lovato includes five charges — first-degree murder (depraved mind), first-degree murder (willful and deliberate), second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

After his plea was heard, the judge ordered Lovato be held without bond.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Rita Jaramillo, 49, who was living in Los Lunas, New Mexico, was last seen by her daughter, Denise, on September 20, 2018, when she went to her daughter’s house for a visit. The next day, Denise said she tried calling and texting her mother, as she usually did, but there was no reply. Denise said she thought maybe her mother had left town on her day off, just to get away for a bit, as she has done before. But on the morning of September 23, Denise got a call she never could have expected. Her mother’s trailer had burned down. Valencia County Fire Marshal Casey Davis told local media in October of 2018 that they had received a call earlier that morning and crews were sent to Rita’s single-wide mobile home. But when the fire was put out, there was no evidence that Denise’s mother was among the ruins.

Denise told Dateline that in addition to Rita being missing, Rita’s car and two dogs were also gone. Valencia County Fire Marshal Davis called the fire “highly suspicious.” Firefighters told the local NBC station that they found tires in each room of the house, which could have accelerated the fire.

Rita’s case has since been transferred to the New Mexico State Police. There have been no updates in the case. Rita Jaramillo is described as being 5’8” tall and weighing about 185 lbs. at the time of her disappearance. Her car, which also remains missing, is a 2006 Hyundai Sonata with the New Mexico license plate of PMZ393.

Six years of Dateline's Missing in America: 134 still missing

 

[CastlesBurning]

Seven years of Dateline's Missing in America: 156 still missing

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Arthur Lovato led agents to body of Rita Jaramillo missing since 2018

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico State Police say a man who pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend has led officers to her body. Arthur Lovato pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing Rita Jaramillo back in 2018.

As part of the deal, Lovato was required to lead investigators to Jaramillo’s body for his six-year sentence to be suspended. On Tuesday, NMSP released an update saying that on Oct. 26, Lovato led agents to an area near I-25 and U.S. Highway 60 in Socorro County where they found her body.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Missing woman’s remains found; ex-boyfriend enters guilty plea - Valencia County News-Bulletin

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 6, 2021
Accused leads police to missing Valencia woman's Remains - Albuquerque Journal (abqjournal.com)
[...]

Arthur Lovato, 61, took them to an area near Interstate 25 and U.S. 60 in Socorro County on Oct. 26, where they located Jaramillo, 49, of El Cerro, according to officer Ray Wilson, a State Police spokesman.

“Ms. Jaramillo’s body was positively identified by the Office of the Medical Investigator on Oct. 27,” Wilson wrote in an email.

Lovato agreed to take law enforcement officers to the location in exchange for a plea agreement. On Oct. 26, Lovato entered a guilty plea to a voluntary manslaughter charge.

The plea agreement calls for a sentence of six years, with Lovato receiving credit for the time he’s been in custody at the Valencia County Detention Center since May 2019.

[...]