Body Found in Concrete Identified

A body found encased in concrete in a Corona carport last month was identified as that of 13-year-old Conrad Morales, the brother of an 11-year-old boy found beaten to death inside the same home, authorities said Tuesday.

Dental records from Lewis County, Wash., where Conrad lived before moving to Corona, confirmed his identity. A Corona police spokesman said the death was being treated as a homicide.

Sgt. Neil Reynolds said investigators thought Conrad was killed in Washington and his body placed in a large plastic trash can and covered in concrete. They think the body was taken to Corona on Oct. 10, two days after Conrad was reported missing in Washington, he said.

Conrad’s uncle and aunt, Raul and Cathy Sarinana, have been arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of Conrad’s brother, Ricky. Raul Sarinana faces a count of homicide with the special circumstance of inflicting torture, and Cathy Sarinana faces counts of homicide and felony child endangerment.

The two have been jailed at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside since Dec. 26, when police responded to the 1100 block of Belle Avenue after Raul Sarinana called authorities reporting the death of the boy.

The Riverside County coroner has yet to officially determine the boys’ causes of death.

“There is no gunshot or stabbing involved with Ricky,” Reynolds said. “With Ricky, it was abuse, some kind of strike.”

Authorities are not sure whether Conrad’s slaying will be prosecuted in Riverside County or in Washington, where the boy was reported missing by Cathy Sarinana on Oct. 8 while she and her husband lived in a Winlock, Wash., trailer park.

“I would hope they’ll keep the case” in Riverside, said the boys’ mother, Rosa Morales, who is Raul Sarinana’s older sister. “I’ll be there every day. They promised my boys security, and they caused their deaths.”

She said she raised the boys in the San Gabriel Valley and eventually sent them to live with the Sarinanas in Washington.