Oregon Resident Arrested for Murder in Moses Lake Woman’s Disappearance

An Oregon man faces murder accusations after the disappearance of his former girlfriend last week, who is from Moses Lake.

Twenty-seven-year-old Juan Gastelum was arrested in his hometown of Hermiston as part of a multi-agency investigation after 30-year-old Yanira Cedillos went missing March 3 while celebrating her birthday at a Moses Lake casino.

Detectives have not located a body, but believe Gastelum murdered Cedillos in her apartment shortly after midnight last Friday.

Officers say they delayed the release of information on their investigation because Gastelum was unknowingly providing key evidence in this case, and they did not want him to flee the area or stop being cooperative.

Police say Gastelum left Cedillos' apartment in the early morning hours of Friday the 4th, and drove around the Moses Lake area. He was caught on video at about 7:30 am cleaning his car out and disposing of evidence at local gas station. Police say the evidence was later recovered by detectives.

Detectives say they are still awaiting the results of search warrants and electronic data analysis that may narrow the search area for Cedillos' body. Police say they may ask for public help, once an area to search for the woman is narrowed down.

Moses Lake Police described the circumstances of Cedillo's disappearance in a statement:

"Shortly before midnight (March 3), as Yanira and her friends were in the parking lot of the bar, an argument broke out among the friends, and Yanira left on foot, walking southbound on Stratford Road. A short time later, she called a friend and asked to be picked up in the 1000 block of Stratford Road. When the friend arrived a short time later, the friend was unable to locate Yanira. When the friend called Yanira back, the friend could hear a male in the background yelling, and asking who was calling and the phone was disconnected. A moment later, Yanira called the friend and assured the friend that she was ok. This was the last anyone had heard from Yanira. When she didn’t show up to work on Friday, her family reported her missing."