For more than four years, Esther Armendarez always wondered what happened to her husband Rene Escobar Sanchez after she reported him missing on July 15, 2008.
After years of waiting and wondering, she finally learned Saturday that Sanchez was dead.
“I don’t know what’s worse: Not knowing or finding out what happened,” Aremdarez said. “Throughout those four years, we were holding out to the faith that he would come home.”
The suspect, 29-year-old Jesus Miguel Venegas, 2661 E. 11th St., was charged with murder after he reportedly confessed to killing Sanchez following his arrest on a traffic stop. Venegas was being held without bond Monday at the Ector County Detention Center.
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Odessa Police officers originally charged Venegas Saturday with driving with an invalid license, a class ‘B’ misdemeanor, a probable cause affidavit stated.
After being taken to the detention center, Venegas told law enforcement officials he wanted to talk to detectives about the disappearance of Sanchez, then 36, who was last seen on July 12, 2008, the affidavit stated. After waiving his Miranda warning, Rene then reportedly confessed to killing the man.
Armendariz, who made the initial report, said she last saw her husband at 11 p.m. when he left his residence to drink.
During previous investigations into the case, police interviewed Tomas Gomez, who stated Sanchez showed up to his house that night and was drinking beer with him and Venegas, the affidavit stated. Around 2:30 a.m., the trio ran out of alcoholic beverages and Sanchez and Venegas were last seen walking towards Sanchez’s house, the affidavit stated.
During a July 24, 2008 interview, police talked to Venegas who said he and Sanchez had more beers near Sanchez’s vehicle, the affidavit stated. Venegas was reported as the last person to see Sanchez that night.
“In first talking to him, there was not enough then to charge him with Sanchez’s disappearance,” Odessa Police spokeswoman Cpl. Sherrie Carruth said. “At this point, there are a lot of questions we have to find answers to before we can even begin to put the puzzle together.”
Carruth added that the next step in the investigation would be trying to locate Sanchez’s remains.
What caused Venegas to confess is still unclear, but Carruth said it was common for suspects to wait before finally making a statement with regard to a case. The time difference, she said, could range anywhere between days to years.
“You have some that it will take 10 or 20 years, it depends on how the guilt eats at them,” Carruth said. “And some are cold-hearted and feel they will never get caught.”
For Armendarez, she said she isn’t sure what the next steps will be. After years of rumors and hearing various reports of people seeing Sanchez alive, she said her main concern is being strong for her family. She said she didn’t know Venegas, and only talked to him face-to-face once after she had learned he was the last one to see her husband alive.
Armendarez said she and Sanchez were married for five years before he disappeared. The couple also had two children together — the son now 5 and the daughter 7 — who she said are still too young to understand what happened. She plans on telling them the truth once they get older.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’re just going to stick together and be there for one another,” Armendarez said. “I am grateful to Detective (Angie) Reyes … she didn’t let us down.”
