SAN ANTONIO — More than two years after the disappearance of a San Antonio woman sparked suspicion, searches and an investigation, San Antonio Police have a suspect in custody.
Reyes Gallegos, 37, was detained "without incident" on the west side, police officials said. Authorities say he's being charged in the murder of Cecilia Huerta Gallegos, who hasn’t been seen since July of 2019.
SAPD Spokesperson Alisia Pruneda called the arrest the result of "countless investigative hours" by detectives, adding "these cases are enormously complex."
When asked whether Gallegos's body had been found, Pruneda wouldn't provide a definitive answer either way, only saying, "it's one of those details we're not really able to give much conclusiveness to."
Family and friends of Gallegos told KENS 5 in 2019 that the mother of four wouldn’t have left town without notifying anyone as volunteers searched the Bexar County area for her.
By September of 2019, Gallegos was feared dead by her family and her husband named a person of interest in her disappearance, though he was arrested for allegedly filing a false report in a separate incident. He was never officially named a suspect.
Gallegos’s family recently told KENS 5 they had spent hundreds of hours scouring the San Antonio area over the last two years for any sign of her. SAPD officials said as recently as early August that they were still considering her disappearance a missing person’s case.
KENS 5 spoke with the sister of Cecilia, Meriya Lopez about the arrest. She said since her sister’s disappearance, the suspect has not talked or attempted to communicate with them. She said the family has been waiting for this day.
“They (SAPD) did tell us that they have all the evidence. It took them two years in order to put together all the evidence,” said Lopez. “There’s not a day that we don’t miss her and a day that we pray to God that justice is served.”