A missing Alexandria teen has returned home on Tuesday night after she was considered endangered, the Fairfax County police confirmed. Police learned that she may be linked to the case of another teen girl found dead at a the construction site over the weekend. Venus Lorena Romero Iraheta, aged 17, had entered her house at around 9 p.m. while her mother was being interviewed by the NBC Washington. The Fairfax County police were contacted and officers arrived at the house to confirm. The detectives are interviewing Iraheta about her nearly month long absence.
Earlier, police said that gang activity appears to be a factor in the cases of Iraheta and 15-year-old Damaris “Alexandra” Rivas, whose remains were found at the Springfield, Virginia, industrial park on Saturday. Fairfax County police’s Second Lt. Brian Gaydos said at a news conference on Tuesday that the cases also are connected to the case of a third missing teen and her young son who returned home last weekend.
Gaydos said that, however the links between the girls are not defined.
New information in the Iraheta’s disappearance had made detectives concerned she could be in danger. However, Gaydos could not go into the details about the information which had prompted detectives to heighten Iraheta’s missing status to endangered.
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Iraheta voluntarily left her home on the Alexandria’s Beauregard Street on Jan. 15, carrying the black and red backpack full of clothes, Gaydos said.
Investigators learned that Iraheta’s case overlapped with the Rivas’ homicide. Rivas, a Gaithersburg, Maryland resident went missing on December 10, 2016, and her body was found in this month.
“Their relationship is under investigation. We can’t say how she knew her,” Gaydos said of the connection between Iraheta and Rivas. Investigators said that, her autopsy revealed that Rivas suffered trauma to her upper body.
WTOP’s broadcast news partner, NBC Washington, reports that Rivas’ body was found just over the hill from the home where once-missing 16-year-old Lizzy Rivera Colindres was lived. She returned to home with her 5-month-old son over the weekend.
When she was still missing, the Montgomery County police said that Rivera Colindres’ disappearance was linked to a gang activity and that her boyfriend, who is also her son’s father, was linked to an area gang.
Five people are detained in connection with these cases, facing the gang-related charges; however none are facing the homicide charges, Gaydos said. Despite the charges, he could not offer names on Tuesday.
By Mrudula.
