An Arizona prisoner has been charged with murdering two girls who went missing in 2012 and 2014.
Christopher Matthew Clements, 36, was indicted on Friday on 22 counts by a grand jury, including murder and kidnapping in the deaths of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said, as cited by AP.
Celis went missing in 2012, when her father discovered she was not in her bedroom in their Tucson home on the morning of April 20. Her body discovered in a rural area in March 2017.
Police previously did not name suspects in the case, but they said they found "suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point" into the home.
Gonzalez vanished in June 2014 after telling family she was going to visit a friend. Her body was discovered in a desert area northwest of Tucson three days later.
Police said the breakthrough came in 2017, when the FBI received a tip that a man had information about Celis' disappearance. The tip led them to Clements, who directed officers to the child's body, located not far from where Gonzalez' body had been found.
The indictment did not provide any information on how the children were killed, or what links Clements to the crimes.
He was also charged with 14 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and child pornography.
A registered sex offender, Clements was jailed last year on unrelated burglary, fraud and theft charges.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
