Photo: New Mexico State Police
A New Mexico man has been charged with the murder of his wife after her body was found in the Gila National Forest. Erica Zamora, 39, was last seen on September 26, when she visited the forest to cut firewood with her husband, Armando.
She was reported missing last week, and authorities zeroed in on her 35-year-old husband as a suspect in the case. He was on probation and was required to wear an ankle monitor following a 2019 conviction for criminal sexual contact of a minor under the age of 13. Authorities obtained the GPS location data from his ankle monitor and used it to pinpoint an area in the forest where the couple had been cutting wood.
When investigators searched the area, they found Zamora's body.
"A sergeant searched the area and located a deceased female matching the description of Erica Zamora. The female was pronounced dead by the Office of the Medical Investigator and was positively identified as Erica Zamora," the New Mexico State Police said in a statement.
Armando told investigators that Erica punched him while he was loading the wood into his pick-up. He then admitted that he beat her to death with his ax. He was taken to Grant County Detention Center without incident, where he was charged with murder.