Rachel Castillo missing Simi Valley, California mom found dead as her ex husband Zarbab Ali is charged with the woman’s murder. No known motive.
A California mother of two who went missing late last week has been found dead with authorities arresting her ex-husband as the main suspect — after a ‘significant amount of blood’ was found inside her home, police said.
Rachel Castillo, 25, was last seen early Thursday by her sister, Emily Castillo, whom she lived with along with her two young sons, ages 2 and 5.
Police launched a desperate search for the missing woman after saying they found ‘a significant amount of blood’ at the Simi Valley home.
‘Detectives located human remains of an adult female in a remote location within the Antelope Valley,’ police said in a statement late Sunday.
The body of the missing mom was found in Antelope Valley, just north of Los Angeles and northeast of her home in Simi Valley. Cops positively identified the human remains as those of Castillo.
Father picked up his two sons from ex wife every Thursday
‘The primary suspect in this case, is Rachel’s ex-husband, 25-year-old City of Hawthorne resident, Zarbab Ali. Mr. Ali was arrested, this afternoon at his parent’s home in Victorville, in connection to Rachel’s homicide,’ the statement said.
‘This investigation has rapidly evolved over the past few days. This case is still under investigation and some details cannot be released due to legal and investigative reasons,’ police added.
Ali is the father of Castillo’s two sons and would pick the children up from his ex every Thursday morning, her family told KCBS-TV.
The boys were picked up by Ali that morning, the Los Angeles Times reported. It is unclear where the children are now. At no point did the family ever believe that the father would harm either his two sons or Rachel Castillo.
On Saturday, Emily Castillo told KABC-TV that when she arrived back home Thursday, her sibling was gone but there was a lot of blood.
‘As soon as I saw the blood, that’s when I realized something wasn’t right,’ Emily told KABC-TV. ‘So I called my mom to let her know to come over and then I immediately called 911.
‘I was running around the house trying to see if I could find her somewhere,’ she added.
‘We want you to come home…’
Rachel’s mother, Robyn Castillo, said her daughter was supposed to spend the day working from home at her job for a social services agency and ironically on behalf of domestic violence victims, the LA Times reported.
Her personal belongings, including her cellphone, car keys and vehicle, were still at the residence when she disappeared, cops said.
Rachel’s father, Christopher, a retired federal law enforcement agent, drove in from Northern California on Friday to help in the search, NBC Los Angeles reported.
‘She is in need of immediate help,’ the father told the outlet Friday night, pleading for anyone with information on her whereabouts to call authorities.
‘Just think if this was your kid,’ he said.
On Sunday night, members of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church gathered for a prayer vigil before they heard about the tragic outcome.
‘We miss you, we love you, just know that we want [you] to come home and you are so, so loved and if you can hear this message, know that we’re surrounding you with love,’ Sergio Lopez said, KCBS reported.
No known murder motive was immediately known.
