Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Cause of death undetermined in case of woman found in concrete

Esmeralda Gonzalez

Esmeralda Gonzalez

Medical examiners could not determine the cause and manner of death of Esmeralda Gonzalez, a 24-year-old model found encased in concrete and abandoned in the desert last month.

They’ve officially ruled both cause and manner to be “undetermined,” the Clark County Coroner’s Office said today.

Regardless, Metro Police and Clark County prosecutors allege Gonzalez is a murder victim and have accused Christopher Prestipino and Casandra Garrett of killing her.

In late May, Gonzalez, who had a history of mental illness, vanished from the southwest valley neighborhood she shared with the suspects, police said.

An anonymous tipster told police that Prestipino and Garrett had lured Gonzalez into their house where they gave her methamphetamine, tied her up, strangled her and injected her with “pool cleaner,” police said.

They then disposed of her body in the desert near the Nevada-California border, police allege. Garrett led police to the grim discovery on Oct. 8.

Prestipino was arrested at the Las Vegas airport as he flew back from Belize. His girlfriend, Lisa Mort, was charged as an accessory, for allegedly participating in an escape plan, and Garrett was later taken into custody in Milwaukee.