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Traffic Stop Turns into Murder Investigation
Traffic Stop Turns into Murder Investigation 1/7/13
Tatum Guinn
CBS 7 News Reporter
January 7, 2013
tguinn@cbs7.com
Odessa - What started as a simple traffic stop over the weekend leads to a shocking murder confession; now police are searching for an Odessa man's body.
After four years of waiting and wondering, the family of Rene Escobar Sanchez, who’s been missing since 2008, finally learned what happened to him.
"It's just been really hard, a lot of waiting and wondering," Esther Armendarez, the wife of Sanchez said.
However, after this weekend, investigators are getting closer to finding him.
"After one of our officers pulled him over, he began to confess without any questioning. He said that he was involved in the disappearance and murder of Rene Sanchez," Sherrie Carruth, the public information officer for the Odessa Police Department said.
OPD arrested Jesus Miguel Venegas. According to the arrest affidavit we obtained, after his arrest, Venegas requested to talk to detectives in reference to Rene Sanchez. He was later charged with first-degree murder in connection to missing man Sanchez.
"The investigation has really taken a different turn now," Carruth said.
A move police say may have been out of guilt.
"Some people's conscience just wears on them and they confess to it after a month, sometimes a year," Carruth said.
The family of Sanchez has been waiting and holding out hope for years that maybe one day he would come home.
"I just hope that he's ok. That he's just watching over us and that he's happy and ok," Armendarez said.
As Texas Rangers now search for the body of Sanchez, his family says they'll keep the door open just in case.
Odessa Police say they are in the process of questioning Venegas to find out what exactly happened four years ago.
No word on a motive at this time.