SAN ANTONIO — The holiday season brought confusion and heartbreak for two San Antonio families after a pregnant woman and her boyfriend were found dead a few days after going missing.
Savanah Soto and Matthew Guerra were found dead with gunshot wounds in a locked car this week. Eight days later, on Jan. 4, SAPD took a father and son into custody.
Here's everything we know about the case so far, with new information added as it is revealed.
When did Soto go missing?
Leon Valley police issued a CLEAR Alert for the 18-year-old on Christmas, after she was scheduled to go to the hospital Saturday to be induced. She never showed up. Family members said they hadn't heard from Soto since Friday, and started organizing searches on Christmas night.
On Tuesday, police also said Guerra, Soto's 22-year-old boyfriend, was considered a missing person.
How were they found?
A family member on Dec. 26 was alerted about a car found in an apartment complex in the Medical Center area of San Antonio. Authorities confirmed to KENS 5 that Soto and Guerra were found inside, dead from gunshot wounds to the head.
SAPD also said in a report that an unborn baby was dead, and Police Chief William McManus said it's believed the car was in the parking lot for three to four days.
McManus said it wasn't immediately clear what had happened that led to the two victims' deaths. Relatives say Soto was found in the front seat with a car seat on top of her, while Guerra's body was in the back seat.
"It's a very, very perplexing crime scene," McManus said Tuesday evening, in an update to news media and family members who had congregated at the complex. "Detectives are looking at this as a possible murder, but we're not sure. We can't say for sure what we have."
SAPD has since classified their case as a capital murder investigation. As of Thursday night, both Soto and Guerra's deaths were ruled homicides.
According to relatives, detectives didn't find any guns or cell phones in the car with the bodies.
Who did police arrest?
On the evening of Jan. 3, San Antonio police announced the arrests of a father and son. It had been eight days since Soto and Guerra's bodies were discovered.
Christopher Preciado, 19, faces capital murder charges while his 53-year-old father, Ramon, faces charges of abuse of a corpse. SAPD said information collected from Soto's cell phone led them to the suspects' vehicle, and later their home.
A warrant was received upon interrogation of the Preciados. SAPD said that, at this point in the investigation, the killings appeared to be the result of a "narcotics-related deal that went bad." An arrest affidavit said it was specifically over a marijuana deal.
A week later, police would also arrest 47-year-old Myrta Romanos, believed to be Christopher's stepmom. She is facing three charges in this case including altering/destroying a corpse, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
What have the families said?
"It breaks my heart," Soto's mother, Gloria Cordova, told KENS 5 before her daughter was eventually found.
Cordova said Soto was making final preparations to be a mom, having completed a nursery. But when Cordova tried to check on Soto at her apartment on Saturday, no one answered.
Now the Soto family, along with police and Guerra's relatives, are on similar searches for answers.
“I hope they pay for whatever they did to my daughter,” Cordova told KENS 5 on Wednesday, saying she had had a bad feeling that something terrible had happened to her daughter and Fabian. "It's not something that a mom ever wants to hear. I didn't want to accept it."
Cordova said she suspects Guerra was involved with illegal activity. His father says he knew his son had a criminal history including unlawful carry of a weapon, evading police and an assault charge causing bodily injury.
“He didn’t hang around the best crowd,” Gabriel Guerra said.
He confirmed the assault charge involved Soto on Christmas 2022. However, he said, the two had been in a good place ever since and living together in Leon Valley.
“They were inseparable," Gabriel Guerra said. "Was it a perfect relationship? No, but she definitely was not a prisoner there. Her and Matthew were both overjoyed and couldn’t wait for Fabian’s arrival.”
He believed Matthew was going to change for the better once he became a father.
“He talked about how it was going to make him better, a better person,” Gabriel Guerra said.
Where does the case stand?
All three suspects were indicted on March 27 by a Bexar County grand jury, with Christopher Preciado also newly charged with murdering Fabian in addition to Soto and Guerra. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said it's too early to determine if his office will seek the death penalty.
Christopher Preciado is due in court for a pretrial hearing Friday. Ramon Preciado and Romanos are next expected to appear in court in mid-April.
How can the community help?
A verified GoFundMe has been created to raise money for the funerals of both Soto and her unborn child, and the local nonprofit Eagles Flight is accepting donated supplies to assist her family. Find more information here.
This GoFundMe is also collecting money for Guerra's family.
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