Related videos:
Claudia Mojarrieta Matos, a 21-year-old Cuban woman who had been reported missing on Saturday in the state of Illinois, was found dead, and the police have a man in custody who is accused of her murder.
The search for Mojarrieta began on Saturday, December 6, around 4:35 a.m., when the Elmhurst city police, located in DuPage County, received a call from a man reporting his disappearance.
The person reported that, around 1 a.m., they had dropped off the young woman at 600 West Lorraine Avenue so she could meet someone, who was later identified by the police as Santino Ortiz, 22 years old.
About 15 minutes later, the complainant received a call from the young woman, during which he heard a struggle and her crying before the connection was abruptly cut off. He then returned to the place where he had taken her, and unable to locate her, he called 911 and reported her disappearance, confirmed the DuPage County State's Attorney.
The investigators identified Ortiz as a suspect, whose residence is located in the 600 block of West Belden Avenue, just one block north of the site where they had left Mojarrieta that morning. Both avenues are parallel, the statement specified.
On Saturday afternoon, Ortiz was interrogated at the Elmhurst Police Department and detained, just 12 hours after the 911 call reporting the incident.
According to the prosecutor's report, the suspect allegedly solicited sexual services from the woman and arranged a meeting with her on Lorraine Avenue.
From there, he took her to his garage, where he attacked her: he struck her head against the ground and stabbed her multiple times with a knife. Then, he wrapped her head in a bag and placed the body in a garbage container.
Authorities indicated that, around 8:00 a.m., Ortiz placed the body in his truck and drove to a wooded area in Wadsworth, where he abandoned it about 12 meters off the road, among bushes and trees.
On Sunday, just before 6 p.m., the Lake County Coroner's Office was notified of a grim discovery. In a wooded area near Adams and Delany Streets in the village of Wadsworth, a body was found.
The coroner identified the body as that of Claudia Mojarrieta Matos, 21 years old, a resident of Greenacres, Florida, whose disappearance was being investigated by the Elmhurst police.
The autopsy revealed the brutal way in which the murderer took Mojarrieta's life: he stabbed her approximately seven times in the face and head.
Ortiz appeared on Tuesday afternoon before the Circuit Court and is charged with six counts of first-degree murder, one count of armed robbery, and one count of concealing a homicide, all felonies, reported the State Attorney's Office. Judge Joshua Dieden ordered him to be held in preventive detention without bail.
His next court hearing is scheduled for January 5, 2026, before Judge Margaret O'Connell.
Dismay over the atrocious crime that cut short the life of Claudia Mojarrieta Matos
The murder of Claudia Mojarrieta Matos, who had recently lived in Florida, has caused deep shock among her family and friends.
Telemundo 51 gathered testimonies from people close to her. From Houston, Texas, a close friend identified as Sandra, who knew her from Cuba, made statements to the television channel.
She stated that she was a person “with an immense heart, always very humble, whatever she didn't have, she sought out to help you, she gave up her own.”
Sandrá expressed the dismay that overwhelmed her upon learning about the terrible outcome: “It was something very, very, very, very difficult,” she confessed.
Lilian Infante, who for about two or three months had rented her an apartment in Greenacres, in Palm Beach County, described her as a good girl, kind-hearted, with “a heart too big for her chest”.
He asserted that what happened “was something really strong, super strong; I never imagined that something like this could happen to her.”
The impact of crime has also resonated in Illinois. The state attorney for DuPage County, Robert Berlin, expressed his condolences to the victim's loved ones: “I offer my deepest condolences to Claudia's family and friends as they try to process this terrible loss.”
"With total disregard for human life, young Claudia was taken in an act of brutal and senseless violence," Berlin stated, warning that "the type of violence reported in this case will not be tolerated in DuPage County and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Through a fundraising campaign, the necessary funds were raised to cover the repatriation of the young Cuban's remains to the island, so that her mother and other family members can say their final goodbye, confirmed those close to the situation.
Claudia Mojarrieta Matos was originally from Moa, Holguín.
Filed under: