ESPANOLA, N.M., April 7 (UPI) -- A New Mexico man who allegedly drove around with a woman's decomposing body in his car was arrested and charged with failing to report a death, police said.
The body of the dead woman, Amy Marquez, 33, of Espanola, was discovered sitting propped up under a blanket in the car of Jerry Maestas, 65, also of Espanola, when Maestas went to a hospital Tuesday and said he had a woman in his car who needed help, the Rio Grande Sun reported.
The charge against Maestas is a petty misdemeanor. He was being held in the Espanola Jail awaiting an arraignment Wednesday.
"Right now, this is all we have to charge him with," Lopez said.
The cause of death is not yet known, and an autopsy will be performed, the Sun reported.
Marquez's body was in a state of decomposition that indicated she probably died Sunday, Espanola Police Lt. Christian Lopez said.
Lopez said the death is suspicious because of the amount of time Marquez apparently had been dead and because Maestas called the Marquez's family Tuesday morning to say Amy was OK and they shouldn't worry, the Sun reported.
Marquez's mother, Joyce Vigil, said her daughter, who was paralyzed from the waist down due to an automobile accident 11 years earlier, was friends with Maestas.
