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Customs And Border Protection Employee Eddy Reyes Indicted In 2016 Kidnapping That Killed His Wife, Claudia Reyes

SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — A Covina man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the 2016 kidnapping of his wife that resulted in her death, according to federal authorities.

claudia sanchez reyes and eddy reyes
(credit: CBS)

Eddy Reyes, 35, an employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has been in custody without bond since his arrest on April 15. The indictment returned Wednesday charges him with kidnapping his wife, 21-year-old Claudia Sanchez Reyes, on May 6, 2016, an incident that resulted in her death.

Claudia Reyes was last seen leaving work that night, according to court documents. After Eddy Reyes filed a missing persons report four days later, Santa Ana police say investigators learned that co-workers had overheard Claudia Reyes fighting with her husband before he picked her up in a rented SUV on the day she disappeared. An affidavit in support of the criminal complaint notes detectives found a drop of Claudia Reyes' blood in the vehicle, and a cadaver dog later indicated a dead body had been in the SUV.

A history of reported domestic violence incidents involving the Reyes', including alleged threats by Eddy Reyes to kill Claudia Reyes, were included in the affidavit, along with temporary restraining orders she took out in 2014 and 2016.

Eddy Reyes is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on May 3. If convicted as charged, he faces a potential sentence of the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

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