x

Society

Man Charged with Killing 2 Arizona Girls who Went Missing

September 16, 2018

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A registered sex offender jailed since last year has been charged in the kidnapping and killing of two Arizona girls who went missing in 2012 and 2014, authorities announced Saturday.

Christopher Matthew Clements, 36, was indicted on Friday by a grand jury on 21 criminal counts, including murder and kidnapping charges in the deaths of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said.

Celis went missing from her Tucson home in April 2012, and her body was discovered in what was described as a rural area in March 2017.

Gonzalez’ body was discovered in June 2014 in the Avra Valley community near Tucson, not far from where Celis’ remains would be found three years later.

Magnus and other officials held a news conference to announce the indictment. But they declined to answer questions from reporters and did not disclose how the girls died or what prompted authorities to investigate Clements in the killings, except to say that the FBI in 2017 learned Clements might have information about the death of Celis.

He then provided information to authorities that led to the discovery of Celis’ remains, Magnus said. Investigators later discovered additional pieces of evidence, but they did not describe Saturday what they had found.

Clements had already been in a Phoenix-area jail for more than a year facing other charges when the indictment was issued.

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall called the identification of Clements as the killer of the girls “long overdue.”

“The heart-wrenching tragedies of Maribel Gonzalez and Isabel Celis’ murders have been compounded by a very long, long wait for justice,” she said.

Celis’ father reported the girl missing on the morning of April 21, 2012, after he went to her bedroom and she was not there.

Police previously did not name suspects, but they said they found “suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point” into the home.

A medical examiner last year ruled Isabel Celis’ death as “homicide by unspecified means.” A heavily redacted autopsy report did not indicate how she died.

Gonzalez went missing on her way to a friend’s house. Her body was found days later.

Clements made his first court appearance Saturday morning. He does not yet have an attorney but will be assigned one at a Sept. 24 arraignment.

Clements was being held on a $2 million bond, Tucson Police Sgt. Pete Dugan said.

Clements was jailed in April 2017 on suspicion of burglary, theft and fraudulent schemes, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bryant Vanegas said Saturday. Vanegas did not have information about when Clements might be transferred to southern Arizona to face charges in the case of the girl’s killings.

The indictment made public Saturday did not provide any details about how the girls were killed or what evidence linked Clements to the killings. It said he was also charged with burglary, theft and possession or distribution of child pornography in other cases dating from 2012 through 2016.

Clements was charged and convicted in Oregon in 1998 of sex-related crimes and was required to register as a sex offender. He was charged and convicted in 2006 in Bay City, Florida, for failing to register, according to Florida law enforcement records.

He was also charged in 2008 in Tucson with failing to register as a sex offender. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 46 months in prison and five years of supervised release

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that sentence in 2011, finding that the federal law requiring him to register as a sex offender within three days of moving to a new home was passed after his 1998 conviction and therefore did not apply to his crime.

RELATED

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Attorney General declined to file criminal charges against a Los Angeles police officer who fired a rifle at a suspect inside a clothing store in 2021, killing a 14-year-old girl in a dressing room, authorities said Wednesday.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

9 Are Facing Charges in What Police in Canada Say is the Biggest Gold Theft in the Country’s History

TORONTO (AP) — Police said nine people are facing charges in what authorities are calling the biggest gold theft in Canadian history from Toronto’s Pearson International airport a year ago.

INSTABUL - Olympiacos FC outlasted Fenerbahçe in Istanbul to qualify for the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League tournament, pulling away 3-2 in a penalty shootout (3-3 aggregate score).

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – Greek-American Maria Passalaris, 25, was tragically killed in a car accident on April 12 on Highway 1 near Princeton, NJ.

NEW YORK — A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial, propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony.

NEW YORK – Fans of the Greek drama series Maestro in Blue, created by and starring Christopher Papakaliatis, will only have to wait until May 16 for the second season to launch on Netflix and Greek broadcaster Mega TV, Deadline reported.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.