A mother of two that went missing in California has been found dead and her ex-husband was arrested as the main suspect.
Three days after Rachel Castillo, 25, vanished and a large amount of blood was found inside her home, a search was spread wide for her.
She was last seen on Thursday by her sister, Emily Castillo, whom she lived with along with her two young sons, ages 2 and 5.
Authorities desperately started looking for Castillo after launching was search for missing woman alert. They said a significant amount of blood found inside her Simi Valley home is what spurred them into action.
“Detectives located human remains of an adult female in a remote location within the Antelope Valley,” police said in a statement late Sunday. “The remains have been identified as those of Castillo.”
“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.”
Ali is the father of Castillo’s two sons and would pick the children up from his ex every Thursday morning. The boys were picked up by Ali that morning. Authorities have not released where the children are at this time.
On Saturday, Emily Castillo said, “When I got back home Thursday, my sister 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. 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,” Emily added.
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.
Authorities said, “Her personal belongings, including her cell phone, car keys and vehicle, were still at the residence when she disappeared.”
Rachel’s father, Christopher, a retired federal law enforcement agent, drove in from Northern California on Friday to help in the search.
“She is in need of immediate help,” Christopher told the news outlet Friday night, begging for anyone with information on her whereabouts to call authorities. “Just think if this was your kid.”
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 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.
