Yesenia Nungaray Becerra (March 14, 1987 - April 22 or 23, 2003) was a teenager found in a duffel bag behind a restaurant in Castro Valley, California in 2003. She was identified in 2006.
Disappearance[]
On March 14, 2003, Nungaray left her home in Yahualica, Jalisco, Mexico to live in southern California, where she stayed with Miguel Angel Nunez-Castaneda, a family friend who was also a native to Yahualica, in Hayward for three weeks in April.
After her mother had stopped receiving phone calls from Nungaray, she grew concerned for her, yet didn't know how to start looking for her.
Case[]
On May 1, 2003, Nungaray's decomposed body was found wrapped in plastic and stuffed into a duffel bag behind the Carrows restaurant in Castro Valley, the same restaurant that Nunez-Castaneda worked as a dishwasher at. She was found with a rag stuffed down her throat, which caused her to asphyxiate.
In January 2006, 48 Hours covered Nungaray's case, where a viewer left a tip that she was seen around Castro Valley with Nunez-Castaneda, who was gone when detectives went to question him. Soon thereafter, detectives headed to Yahualica to show Nungaray's reconstructions to the townspeople. Three days into the investigation, Nungaray's mother, Maria Del Carmen, stepped forward with pictures of a girl resembling the Jane Doe. After comparing Del Carmen's DNA with that of the Jane Doe, she was identified. Nungaray was exhumed and reburied in Yahualica.
According to detectives, Nungaray was most likely killed by Nunez-Castaneda for turning down his advances towards her, thinking of him more as a brother figure, where an arrest warrant was issued for him. He has yet to be found and may still be hiding in the United States or Mexico.
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