Whittier man arrested after girlfriend’s body found wrapped in plastic in a car at his house

A Whittier man was arrested Sunday after sheriff’s deputies found a woman’s body wrapped in plastic in the backseat of a car parked at the man’s home, authorities said.

Luis Rey Jimenez-Jimenez was arrested on suspicion of murder a day after police found the remains, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He is being held in lieu of $2-million bail.

The body of the woman, who had not been identified but who authorities said was the man’s longtime partner, was found after deputies were called Saturday to a welfare check at a residence in the 8700 block of Orange Street. The body was wrapped in plastic and lying in the backseat of a car parked in the home’s driveway, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Investigators think the woman had been dead a week.

Her co-workers became worried when they hadn’t seen her for several days and, after calling the Sheriff’s Department, went to check on the woman, Sgt. Gina Eguia said. When they knocked on her door, a relative who was baby-sitting said the woman had left and no one knew where she had gone.

The co-workers canceled their initial call about the woman’s disappearance but called again Saturday when they still hadn’t heard from her, authorities said.

Although not legally married, Jimenez-Jimenez had lived with the woman for 13 years, and they had one child, who is staying with relatives, Eguia said. There was no history of domestic violence between the two, officials said.

A coroner’s investigation found the woman had suffered significant blunt-force trauma to her head. Investigators think she was in her early 40s.

Jimenez-Jimenez is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra