Body of missing Orange man is found in desert near Yermo

The body of a man from Orange who disappeared nearly a month ago was discovered in the desert this week, a day after a second suspect was arrested in connection with the case, police said Friday.

The body of Matias Ojeda Vazquez, 42, who vanished Dec. 22, was found wrapped in a blanket several dozen feet from Interstate 15 near the high desert town of Yermo.

Leticia Carrasco-Ornelas, 48, was arrested late Wednesday while driving Vazquez’s car in Las Vegas, two days after her son, Noel Carrasco, 22, was apprehended in a mall parking lot there, according to Orange police. Mother and son, who are from the Buena Park-Garden Grove area, will be extradited to Orange County to be charged with robbery and murder, police said.

The night Vazquez went missing, he visited La Barca Night Club in Stanton, where he met Carrasco-Ornelas, Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams said. She lured Vazquez to the Covered Wagon Motel in Buena Park for sex, he said.

When Carrasco-Ornelas and Vazquez arrived at the motel room, police said, Carrasco was hiding there, emerging to rob Vazquez of cash and stabbing him several times.

Mother and son then loaded Vazquez’s body into the trunk of his own black 1990 Honda Accord and fled on I-15 to Las Vegas, where they had ties, Adams said. Stopping partway, he said, they dumped the body by the side of the freeway.

Nevada residents who saw news reports of the alleged crime spotted Vazquez’s Honda, leading to Carrasco-Ornelas’ arrest by Las Vegas police.

Authorities think that a crime was planned ahead of time, but that Vazquez was probably a random target.

“We think he was just an unfortunate victim,” Adams said.

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