Tragic Discovery: Woman’s Body Uncovered in Storage Unit Amidst Marital Struggles, Police Report

In a tragic turn of events, a Utah woman was found dead in a storage unit shortly after she and her husband vanished, prompting authorities to identify him as a “person of interest” in her death.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department is currently on the lookout for 57-year-old Alvaro Jose Urbina Rojas in connection with the death of his wife, 43-year-old Jeusselem Elieth Genes. Their case came under investigation following their disappearance on February 26, when they left their residence and failed to return.

According to Saratoga Springs Police Chief Andrew Burton, Rojas and Genes left their home around 10 a.m., with Rojas reportedly planning to drop Genes off at work. However, when the couple did not return that evening and it was discovered that Genes never made it to her job, concerned family members reached out to the police, as reported by local Fox station KSTU during a recent press conference.

Family members provided the police with pertinent background information, revealing that the couple had been married for approximately 19 years and immigrated from Venezuela to the United States a decade ago. They have an adult daughter and a teenage son. The family also noted that the couple had no significant health problems and had never been involved in any prior legal issues.

Initially, the family did not suspect either individual was in any immediate danger.

The couple’s family wondered whether the two had been picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but investigators found that not to be the case, Burton said. Family members said they had seen some arguments between the couple over the years, “but never any physical violence.” However, “recently, there had been some talk of divorce,” the police chief added.

About a day later, family members told police they still had not heard from the couple, and a missing persons case was filed. With federal help, investigators searched for Genes’ and Rojas’ most recent cellphone activity, learning that hers was turned off but his last “pinged” in the area of Draper, Utah, about 18 miles north of Saratoga Springs.

Through searches for the couple’s 2005 gray Toyota Sequoia with Utah plates, investigators learned that it was seen in Las Vegas, Nevada, midday on Feb. 26 — about 400 miles southwest — before relevant credit card “and other purchases” showed up that night in California. Burton then explained how the case reached a new stage.

“It was learned from family members that [Rojas] had a camp trailer in a storage facility in Draper,” Burton said, adding that the family members reported going there on Saturday but finding it locked and failing to see anything. On Monday, Saratoga Springs police detectives “obtained a search warrant for the trailer,” and upon executing it, detectives found Genes’ body inside.

Burton said the area was processed as a crime scene, an autopsy was performed, and the case has been ruled a homicide. The autopsy’s results have not yet been publicly released.

Rojas has been listed as a “person of interest” in the case. Burton suggested that he could be considered a suspect if additional evidence is discovered.

The police chief further explained how the couple’s disappearance completely caught their family off guard.

“They said, ‘We don’t understand why this is happening.’ They’re not suicidal, they don’t have medical issues, they haven’t had an argument or big fight, or there hasn’t been an event or an incident,” Burton recounted. “They said this was very unusual for them. Their mother is usually very close-hold checking on kids, and, you know, stuff like that. So for them, it was a big question, totally a mystery to them, as to, you know, what was going on.”

Police said that as of Tuesday, the vehicle in which Rojas and Genes left their home a week ago “has not crossed the border into Mexico, so at this time, we believe [it] is still in California.”