Investigators say the case began as a welfare check and became a homicide inquiry after officers searched a trailer in Draper.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah — Police in northern Utah are searching for a 57-year-old man after his wife, who had been reported missing days earlier, was found dead inside a camper trailer at a Draper storage facility, turning what began as a missing-person case into a homicide investigation.

The case matters because it moved quickly from a family’s concern over an unexplained absence to a multistate search tied to cellphone records, vehicle sightings and financial activity. Saratoga Springs police say Jeusselem Elieth Genes Vitola, 43, was found dead in a trailer owned by her husband, Alvaro Jose Urbina Rojas, who was first described as a person of interest and later charged with first-degree murder as investigators said he remained at large.

Family members told police the couple left their Saratoga Springs home on the morning of Feb. 26 after Rojas said he was taking Genes to work. Police Chief Andrew Burton said relatives expected Genes to arrive at her job, but she never showed up. When the couple did not come home that night, relatives called for a welfare check. Burton said the family was alarmed by the silence because, in his words, the behavior was “very unusual for them.” At first, officers were told there had been no major recent event that would explain the disappearance. The couple had been married about 19 years, had two children and, according to police, no serious medical problems and no known prior police history that suggested an immediate crisis.

Early in the inquiry, relatives wondered whether immigration authorities might have detained the couple. Burton said investigators checked and found that was not the case. Officers then turned to electronic records. Police said Genes’ phone was off, while Rojas’ phone later registered in the Draper area. Investigators also traced the couple’s gray 2005 Toyota Sequoia through camera systems and learned it had been seen moving south through Utah and into Las Vegas on Feb. 26. Burton said later purchases on cards and other records pointed to travel into California that same night. By March 3, Saratoga Springs police said they believed Rojas had fled Utah and had been in California, and they publicly released his name, photograph and vehicle details while asking other agencies and the public for help finding him.

The discovery that changed the case came from information supplied by relatives. Burton said family members told detectives that Rojas owned a camp trailer stored in Draper. The family went there on Saturday but found the trailer locked and did not find either person. Detectives obtained a search warrant and entered the trailer on March 2. Inside, they found Genes’ body. A police press release said the trailer became an active crime scene and that the Utah medical examiner was notified. Police announced the next day that the death had been ruled a homicide. At that stage, officials did not release the exact cause of death, saying only that the autopsy had been completed and the full results were still pending.

The search quickly widened beyond one city. Saratoga Springs police said they were working with Draper police, the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol. Burton said investigators had also checked whether the vehicle had crossed into Mexico and, as of the March 3 briefing, believed it had not. That left officers focused on California, where records suggested the SUV had traveled after leaving Utah. Police described Rojas as 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 193 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, and said he could also be known as Jose Alvaro. They identified the SUV as a gray 2005 Toyota Sequoia with Utah plate T409YB. In public statements, police repeatedly asked anyone who saw either the man or the vehicle to contact law enforcement.

The family’s account added another layer to the investigation. Burton said relatives described arguments over the years but said they had never reported physical violence. He also said there had recently been talk of divorce. At the time police first discussed the case publicly, they stopped short of naming Rojas a suspect, saying he was a person of interest whose status could change if more evidence was developed. That wording reflected how early the inquiry still was on March 3, when officers were balancing a confirmed homicide with an incomplete picture of what had happened inside the trailer, who was present there, and when Genes was killed. The uncertainty also extended to the route south, since officers said the SUV was seen traveling but could not publicly establish who was inside it at each stop.

By March 9, the investigation had moved into court. Authorities announced that formal first-degree murder charges had been filed against Rojas and that an arrest warrant had been entered into the National Crime Information Center database. Charging documents cited evidence gathered after the March 2 trailer search, including the location of Genes’ body, electronic tracking information and statements from relatives about problems in the marriage. The court filing said investigators believed the couple had been under significant financial strain for about a year and that Genes had recently told her husband she wanted a divorce. Police said the search for Rojas was continuing and that he was still believed to be in California.

The latest court records also gave the public its first fuller account of the killing. According to the charging documents, Genes’ hands were bound with a zip-tie and rope, and the autopsy found severe blunt force trauma to the head along with signs of possible asphyxiation. Investigators said they believed Rojas may have tampered with his wife’s vehicle before Feb. 26 so she would need a ride to work. Police also said relatives told detectives that he had grown jealous and suspicious and had been following her. Those allegations remain part of the prosecution’s case, and Rojas had not been taken into custody as of the most recent public update. Family members, meanwhile, were left coping with the loss and with the sudden absence of both parents from the children’s daily lives.

Author note: Last updated March 31, 2026.