A global search is intensifying for Matthew Flores following the shocking discovery of two bodies buried in the backyard of a home in Arizona.
“All I can say,” stated Avondale Police Officer Daniel Benavidez during a media briefing, “is that he has fled the country.”
The investigation began on August 4 when relatives of the 27-year-old contacted authorities, raising concerns over his and his parents’ whereabouts. Although the home was empty, the scene suggested a violent incident had occurred, according to a police press conference. Authorities noted substantial bloodstains and indications of attempts to clean up the scene.
Subsequently, Flores emerged as the primary suspect in the search for his missing parents.
Officer Benavidez delivered more grim news at the briefing, stating, “We have located unidentified human remains in the backyard of this residence.”
The bodies were “in a state of decomposition,” he said, according to AZ Family. “I can’t tell you how many hours or days, but what I can say, is that the bodies are in a state of decomposition.”
Police are not releasing the names of the victims at the family’s request, however neighbors spoke of them fondly.
“The dad there, we see him every once in a while,” Alec Rogers told Fox 10. “He’s very, very friendly, but we don’t talk too much, just whenever we see him, we say hello.”
Rogers said he heard a commotion on the day the family was reported missing, explaining, “There was a little bit of yelling and I don’t know exactly who from.”
Another neighbor told AZ Family that at one point, she heard someone scream, “Please stop!”
“I was on the other side of the sidewalk, and I definitely heard it come from that direction,” she said. “But I was like, ‘OK, we live by a middle school, it might be nothing,’ so I didn’t think more of it.”