Man & woman charged in murder of missing couple plead not guilty
A man and woman accused in the killing of a missing Coachella Valley couple each pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and accessory after the fact.
Adilene Ines Castaneda, 27, was charged with one count of murder,
accessory after the fact, and a special-circumstance allegation of killing a witness of a crime. She plead not guilty to all charges. No bail was set and she is expected to appear in court again on August 4.
Eric Rios, 31, was charged with two counts of being accessory to murder after the fact. He plead not guilty to those charges and will appear in court again on August 4. His bail was set at $500,000.
Castaneda and Eric Rios were among six suspects arrested in connection with the killing of Audrey Moran, 26, and Jonathan Reynoso, 28.
Moran and Reynoso were last seen on May 10, 2017. Moran had said she was going to give Reynoso a ride to his Palm Desert home, but the SUV she drove was found two days later on the side of Interstate 10 in Beaumont.
Sheriff Chad Bianco announced on June 30 that investigators recently located remains believed to be the couple, but those results are still not available at this time.
Manuel Rios, age 28 of Coachella, Abraham Fregoso, age 32 of Indio, Jesus Ruiz Jr., age 41 Stockton, and Aaron Fernando Bernal, 28, of Indio following a three-year investigation that included more than 50 search warrants and hundreds of interviews.
After looking at the two sets of criminal complaints for all six suspects, News Channel 3 confirmed Bernal, Fregoso, Castaneda, and Manuel Rios are charged with Moran's murder.
Manuel Rios is charged with Reynoso's murder.
Eric Rios and Ruiz Jr. are each charged with accessory after the fact pertaining to both victims.
Fregoso, Castaneda, and Bernal are each charged with accessory after the fact pertaining to Jonathan's murder.
All six suspects have pleaded not guilty to their charges. They are all scheduled to appear in court on August 4.
Bernal made his first court appearance on Friday, pleading not guilty to all charges.
Back in 2018, News Channel 3 I-Team investigator John White went to a Coachella home, where neighbors at the time said Bernal lived, then calling him Moran's ex-boyfriend.
Search warrants revealed authorities were looking for Bernal's car and found it burned in a field in Thermal just days after the couple disappeared in an apparent arson fire.
The Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit encourages anyone with information related to this case to contact investigators at line at (760)-393-3544.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates on this case.
