Man charged 15 years after ex was found dead in trunk of burning car, CA officials say
More than a decade after a woman was found dead inside the trunk of her burning car, her ex-boyfriend has been arrested and charged, California prosecutors say.
Yvette Martinez’s blazing car was found off Highway 198 between Coalinga and King City on Oct. 10, 2010, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said in a Feb. 5 news release.
Investigators found the 22-year-old Greenfield woman’s body inside the trunk of the car, according to prosecutors.
Officials ruled her death a homicide.
Through initial investigation, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office learned Martinez once dated Noel Aguilera Ledesma, prosecutors said.
Though he was a suspect at the time, he was not arrested, prosecutors said.
After the district attorney’s office created a cold case task force, investigators reopened Martinez’s case in 2022.
In doing so, detectives found “new evidence” that led to a warrant for Ledesma’s arrest, according to prosecutors.
Ledesma, 43, was arrested in Yuma, Arizona, on Feb. 4, prosecutors said.
Anyone with information about Martinez’s death is asked to contact District Attorney Investigator Oliver Minnig at 831-784-5648.
Greenfield is about a 140-mile drive southeast from San Francisco.
