Who are the 6 suspects in custody for the disappearance of Nicole Solorio-Romero?

SALT LAKE CITY — Investigators have now arrested six suspects who are accused of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of 25-year-old Consuelo “Nicole” Solorio-Romero.

On Saturday, Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office sent this statement to 2News:

We are engaged in an active prosecution, having filed charges already. Thus, we want to make sure everyone is afforded the due process that is their Constitutional Right. However, this continues to be an active investigation, and (as) such we can not comment in that it might compromise or impact those efforts in any way. When, and if, circumstances change, we will let you know.

The case is complex, so we have compiled information about what is known of Solorio-Romero’s murder and who police believe was involved. The following information is from arrest reports filed with the Salt Lake County Jail and charging documents from the Third District Court:

WHAT HAPPENED TO NICOLE?

Unified Police say Solorio-Romero was kidnapped near 5100 W. 5400 South in Kearns on February 6. A few days later, investigators released surveillance video and a plea to the public to help locate her.

Investigators said publicly they believed that Solorio-Romero had been kidnapped and shot, but her body had not been located.

Arrest reports filed this week reveal investigators were several steps ahead of what they were releasing publicly, including that police officers had gone to a home on Elba Ave. in the Chesterfield neighborhood of West Valley City on the day of Solorio-Romero’s disappearance to search for her.

The first arrests in the case came on Feb. 16, when police arrested Jorge Medina-Reyes, 21, and Orlando Tobar, 29, on charges of aggravated murder.

Earlier this week, police arrested three more people on charges related to Solorio-Romero’s disappearance after serving a warrant at a home near 5100 West 5400 South in Kearns.

Carolina Marquez, 38, Fernando Marquez, 22, and Ivan Acosta, 27, were all booked into jail on charges related to Solorio-Romero’s case. In arrest reports, investigators reveal these suspects were at the Elba Ave. house when Solorio-Romero was shot and then went with Tobar and Medina-Reyes to a West Valley City taco shop, Tacos Mi Caramelo.

It was at this meeting where police believe the sixth suspect in the case, Cristian Morales-Gonzales, 26, was called to help them dispose of the body.

Arrest reports say all six suspects went from Tacos Mi Caramelo back to the house on Elba Ave. Arrest reports say Morales-Gonzales and Tobar went to dispose of Solorio-Romero’s body.

Morales-Gonzales was arrested Thursday night at a home on 4055 West in Kearns.

WHO HAS BEEN ARRESTED?

Here’s what we know about each of the six suspects from their arrest reports and charging documents:

Orlando Tobar, 29 (Chaparro)

• Accused Solorio-Romero of giving information to police that led to an associate being taken into federal custody
• Was in the room when Solorio-Romero was shot
• Told witnesses he would kill them if they spoke about what happened
• Went with “The Mechanic” to dispose of the body
• Police found a .40 caliber gun in his house soaking in a chemical that was corroding the gun. Witnesses said this was the gun used to kill Solorio-Romero.
• Charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and obstructing justice

Jorge Medina Reyes, 21 (The Venezuelan)

• Was in the room with Chaparro when Solorio-Romero was shot
• Charging documents say he shot Solorio-Romero in the back of the head
• Charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and obstructing justice

Cristian Morales-Gonzalez, 26 (The Mechanic)

• Was called by the other suspects while they were at Tacos Mi Caramelo after the murder
• Went with “Chaparro” to dispose of Solorio-Romero’s body
• Held in jail on suspicion of obstructing justice

Ivan Acosta, 27

• Was at the house when Solorio-Romero was brought there and shot
• Seen on body camera locking the apartment where Solorio-Romero was shot
• Was at the meeting at Tacos Mi Caramelo
• Held in jail on suspicion of kidnapping and obstruction of justice

Fernando Marquez, 22

• Solorio-Romero’s landlord
• Told “Chaparro” on the phone to bring Solorio-Romero to the house on Elba Ave.
• Was at the house when Solorio-Romero was shot
• Was at the Tacos Mi Caramelo meeting
• One of the men who Nicole claimed was threatening her with a gun, and was at the Kearns home when she was kidnapped
• Accused of lying to West Valley Police and saying he didn’t know Solorio-Romero
• Held in jail on suspicion of murder, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice

Carolina Marquez, 38

• Owner of Tacos Mi Caramelo
• Told “Chaparro” to take Solorio-Romero upstairs when they arrived at the house on Elba Ave.
• Was at the meeting at Tacos Mi Caramelo and went back to the Elba Ave. house to clean up the crime scene
• Seen on surveillance video at Tacos Mi Caramelo meeting in her office with “The Venezuelan” and “Chaparro”
• Held in jail on suspicion of murder, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice

Carolina Marquez (Booking photo from the Salt Lake County Jail)

WHAT ABOUT MOTIVE?

One clue about the possible motive for Solorio-Romero’s murder is found in charging documents for Tobar and Medina-Reyes. Investigators wrote that she was taken to the house on Elba Ave. and questioned about whether or not she had cooperated with police because a “close associate” had been arrested and taken into federal custody.

Solorio-Romero denied talking to police before her death, according to the charging documents.

A Unified Police spokesperson previously told 2News the agency could not confirm the identity of the “associate” who was taken into federal custody.

Charging documents also reveal that prior to her death in the house on Elba Ave., Solorio-Romero told a witness that her husband’s death was “not a suicide” and Tobar exclaimed that she “knew too much.”

WHERE DOES THE INVESTIGATION GO FROM HERE?

On Friday, a Unified Police spokesperson could not comment on any new developments in the case and referred 2News to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. A DA’s spokesperson said there was no new information to share.

Carolina Marquez, Fernando Marquez, Acosta, and Morales-Gonzales have not yet been charged in court.

Witnesses and a law enforcement source said Unified Police investigators were in rural Tooele County off of state Route 73 Thursday night. Unified Police forensics units were outside the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner in Taylorsville Friday morning, but officials would not comment on whether Solorio-Romero’s body had been located.