Man sought in woman’s mysterious death in central valley said to be schizophrenic

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Published Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 | 4:23 p.m.

Updated Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 | 9:15 p.m.

Metro Police are looking for a man suspected in the death of a woman whose body was found early this morning in his father's central valley house, according to a news release.

The man, Jaime Santana, 25, was thought to be driving the woman's 2015 blue two-door Toyota Scion, Nevada license plate 37A563, police said.

Officers were called at 12:25 a.m. to the 300 block of Lilac Lane, near Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road. The deceased woman, identified on Saturday by the Clark County coroner's office as 25-year-old Cinthia Wendy Perez-Rodriguez, was involved in a struggle and suffered multiple injuries; it is unclear why she was in the house.

She died from blunt force head trauma, coroner's office staff said.

According to reports, the woman's body was found in a pool of blood, was not fully dressed and had apparent head trauma. She was found by residents who told police they did not know her.

Santana is described as a Hispanic man who stands about 5 feet, 10 inches and weighs about 150 pounds.

"Do you want my knife or my gun?"

A police report and Clark County property records show that Santana's father owns and lives in the house where the body was discovered.

Late last year, the suspect had a run-in with law enforcement for allegedly breaking into his neighbors' garage and then threatening them with a knife.

The neighbors did not pay attention to the doorbell, which rang about 9:30 p.m., because it was dark and they thought it may have been a prank, the Metro report said.

Then came loud noises from the garage, which the neighbors said they usually kept open until they went to bed.

When the neighbors went out to check, Santana allegedly ran out of their garage holding a case of Corona beer and hid behind a vehicle in his driveway, the report said.

Confronted by his neighbors, Santana yelled at them while flashing a large kitchen knife and asking: "Do you want my knife or my gun?" police said.

Santana dropped the knife when his father called for him, ran into his bedroom and locked the door, police said.

Santana's father told officers his son suffers from schizophrenia and had been drinking, police said. The neighbors said Santana was "known to use meth."

When officers tried to contact Santana, he avoided them by turning up the music he was listening to, police said.

The officers left without making an arrest, but followed up with the neighbors who pressed charges. Santana had further threatened them by saying he had acquaintances in gangs, they told police.

Santana was booked in December on one count of burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, court records show. Further information on the case, which was transferred to a higher court in March, wasn't immediately available.

A friend's plea

Friends Friday afternoon were posting rest-in-peace messages on the Facebook profile of Cinthia Wendy Perez-Rodriguez. They had earlier taken to the social media platform asking for help in finding Perez-Rodriguez.

About 12 hours after Perez-Rodriguez's body was discovered, a despondent Lizeth Cuevas, 25, showed up to the cul-de-sac looking for her friend, who she said had been missing since Thursday evening. Perez-Rodriguez was expected at a friend's house but never showed.

Cuevas said Perez-Rodriguez's mother called her asking about her daughter's whereabouts. "(Ever since) I've been calling, and calling, and calling," she said. "I've been doing everything to try and figure out where she's at."

When asked by a reporter if her friend knew a Jaime Santana, Cuevas said Perez-Rodriguez on Wednesday had spoken to her about a "Jaime," who they had gone to school with. But Cuevas said she did not know him or recognize his last name.

Cuevas said she had spoken to detectives who were expected to interview her, but that she had no information on her friend's whereabouts.

"And this is the only thing that we have right here," she said about the homicide scene. "Because there (was) a body found here and my friend is missing."

Knocks to the door were not answered this afternoon. About the same time, Metro squad cars sped through the area with their sirens on, someone who’d been inside the house drove away and Cuevas rushed out of the scene after a phone call.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 702-828-3521 or by email at [email protected]. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

Sun reporter Kailyn Brown contributed to this report.