Hearing for suspects accused in murder of Audrey Moran & Jonathan Reynoso moved back to Riverside
Original 02/22/2022
A judge overseeing the case has decided to move the preliminary hearing back to Riverside. A spokesperson for the District Attorney's office said the decision was made because there were no open courtrooms to hold the preliminary in Indio.
The preliminary hearing for all five suspects is scheduled to be held on Feb. 28.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing update
Original Report: 02/14/22
The preliminary hearing for the five suspects accused in the murder of Jonathan Reynoso and Audrey Moran will be moved back to Indio.
The decision was made Monday morning at a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The judge overseeing the case ruled that the preliminary hearing that was also scheduled for today be delayed until Wednesday.
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The case was reassigned to the Indio court jurisdiction to better accommodate the schedules of all involved, according to Riverside County District Attorney's Office Spokesman John Hall.
The hearing on Wednesday is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. The five murder suspects, Abraham Fregoso Jr., Manuel Rios, Aaron Fernando Bernal, Adilene Ines Castaneda, and Eric Rios, are expected to be present at the hearing.
Bottom: Manuel Rios & Eric Rios
The original cases filed against the defendants were at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, but the case was later moved to Riverside in March of 2021.
Reynoso, 28, and Moran, 26, were last heard on May 10, 2017. Moran had left her home to pick up Reynoso, who may have been returning to the Coachella Valley from the Brawley area the day the couple went missing, investigators said.
Two days later, a vehicle that was driven by Moran was found on the side of the westbound Interstate 10 freeway west of Oak Valley Parkway in Beaumont. At the time of the discovery, police said there were no signs of forceable entry or blood inside the vehicle. A police bloodhound detected their scent near the SUV, but the trail disappeared about 50 feet from the vehicle.
The couple's disappearance prompted family, loved ones, law enforcement, and the community to work for three years to find answers as to what happened.
Families were left without answers until June 27, 2020, when the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced the arrest of three suspects, Manuel Rios, 28, of Coachella, Abraham Fregoso, age 32 of Indio, and Jesus Ruiz Jr., age 41 Stockton
Nearly one month later, an additional three suspects were arrested, Bernal, 28, of Indio, and Coachella residents Adilene Ines Castaneda, 27, and Eric Rios, 31.
- Manuel Rios is charged with Reynoso's murder
- Eric Rios is 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.
In Sept. 2021, the sixth suspect, Jesus Ruiz Jr., pleaded guilty to two counts of wilfully and unlawfully having knowledge of the murders of Reynoso and Moran as well as harboring and concealing two of the suspects, Fregoso and Manuel Rios.
Ruiz, 42, of Stockon, was sentenced to two years in prison on Sept. 22, however, he was released due to time served, according to John Hall, public information officer for the Riverside County District Attorney's office.
Hall told News Channel 3 that Ruiz had 454 days of actual custody and 454 days of credit for a total of 908 days.
The Riverside County Sheriff' Department announced in October 2020 that skeletal remains discovered at an unspecified location in the Coachella Valley months prior had been positively identified as those of Moran and Reynoso.
Bianco said in June 2020 that the victims were known to their alleged killers, but would not comment further. 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.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.
