MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (CBS) — A man has been charged in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found in Busse Woods in the northwest suburbs.
Juan Pio Toto, 26, was charged Monday with one felony count of concealing the death. He is accused of dumping the body of his ex-girlfriend Atalia Pucheta Martinez, 23.
The body of Pucheta Martinez was found Saturday in the Busse Woods Forest Preserve, formally known as the Ned Brown Preserve and located near Elk Grove Village, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg. Her body was found after she was reported missing from her home in Mount Prospect.
An investigation into the death soon began. Pio Toto told investigators that he and Pucheta Martinez had gotten into an argument early that morning in the parking lot outside the apartment building where they lived, police said.
Pio Toto told police that Pucheta Martinez fell and hit her head during the fight. He said he put her in the backseat of his car, drove her to a wooded area, dumped her body there and drove away, police said.
Pio Toto appeared for a detention hearing Tuesday at the Cook County Courthouse in Rolling Meadows. His alleged offense is not arrestable under the law, so he was released under electronic monitoring, police said.
The cause of death of Pucheta’s Martine’z is not yet known and Mount Prospect police say they are still investigating.
