ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A well-being check for an Orange County man last month has turned into a murder investigation after his girlfriend’s body was found in Georgia, according to the sheriff’s office.
Following that well-being check, deputies said they discovered that the man — Jorge Quintero, 41 — had gone missing, along with his girlfriend, 29-year-old Carmen Carrera.
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However, Quintero was located a couple of days later after he was shot in an encounter with U.S. Marshalls, deputies added. Meanwhile, Carrera’s remains were later found in a discarded suitcase in Georgia.
Quintero was booked into the Orange County Jail on Monday and has been accused of murdering Carrera. News 6 has obtained court records that document how the investigation transpired.
Below is a timeline of events in this case, per investigative documents from the sheriff’s office:
OCTOBER 29 — BLOODY DISCOVERY
Around 5:44 a.m., Quintero began sending suicidal text messages to his family and friends, prompting one friend to head to his home along Maribou Circle.
Upon arrival at Quintero’s home, the friend went inside and found that the bathtub was covered in blood, a knife on the edge of the tub, and Quintero was not in the house.
Deputies responded to the home shortly after 8 a.m., and they learned that Quintero had also sent text messages to several family members earlier that morning with “concerning statements,” possibly indicating that he was suicidal. His last message had been sent to his ex-wife less than an hour before deputies arrived there.
Alongside the bloody bathtub and knife, investigators found bloody clothes, information for the nearby “The Madison at Waterford Lakes” apartment complex, and several handwritten notes that appeared to be suicide messages.
However, deputies found security footage that showed an apparent “male figure” walking out of the home’s back door around 7:30 a.m., getting into a white truck and driving off.
It was revealed that Quintero had been leasing an apartment from The Madison at Waterford Lakes, where he’d supposedly planned to move with his girlfriend, Carrera. But when deputies went to Quintero’s apartment, they found the back door unlocked and a piece of cloth with what appeared to be “yellow liquid” on it.
As a result, deputies searched the apartment to see whether Quintero was inside and in need of medical treatment. Instead, they found bloody towels and blood spots on the wall.
OCTOBER 29 — SUSPICIONS RISE
Staff members at the complex told detectives that the last time the front door had been used was the night prior. Deputies also found women’s clothing and Carrera’s wallet and keys inside.
Quintero’s cell phone was found on the bathtub, and it had received several text messages and phone calls. Meanwhile, detectives managed to trace Carrera’s cell phone to Seminole County, Georgia.
Investigators also learned that Quintero had rented a truck two days before on Oct. 27. While it was supposed to be returned the next day, Quintero had not yet done so. Instead, the truck was spotted by license-plate readers in Georgia and Alabama around the same time Carrera’s phone had been traced.
Images from those readers showed a trash bag in the bed of the truck, which appeared to be in the shape of a human body.
Afterward, investigators tested blood samples at both Quintero’s home and apartment. The blood at his home came from a male, and some of the blood at the apartment belonged to a female.
In addition, deputies found that Carrera’s bank account had been used for two separate purchases earlier in the day at a Chevron gas station in Lake City.
OCTOBER 31 — FINDING QUINTERO
Detectives visited the gas station, finding security footage that showed Quintero had made the purchases with Carrera’s cell phone. The footage also revealed Quintero wearing a blue cloth tightly around his neck, as though he were nursing an injury.
Meanwhile, the footage also showed the rental truck outside of the store, and the human-shaped bag was still in the truck bed. Carrera was not seen inside the truck.
“Quintero’s suspicious activities were concerning and gave me pause,” an affidavit reads. “With every hour that passed, it seemed more likely that homicide was the reason for the disappearance of (Carrera).”
As a result, deputies obtained a warrant for Quintero’s arrest.
U.S. Marshalls located Quintero’s truck in Saraland, Alabama, and the encounter ended with Quintero being shot and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
However, a suitcase with female human remains in a plastic bag was recovered in Georgia. The remains were suspected of belonging to Carrera.
NOVEMBER 1 — FORENSIC EXAMINATION
An Orange County detective met with FBI agents in Alabama, who were investigating the rental truck.
FBI agents found suspected blood in the rear passenger compartment and truck bed, and long strands of seemingly female hair were discovered.
NOVEMBER 2 — VISITING QUINTERO
The detective met with Quintero in the hospital, though he was only able to communicate via head nods and shakes.
Despite this, the detective told Quintero that he and Carrera were considered missing, and investigators were now searching for her. But Quintero indicated that he didn’t know where Carrera was.
NOVEMBER 4 — AUTOPSY RESULTS
The detective then went to Georgia to attend the autopsy of the discovered remains, discovering that the suitcase the body had been found in had a tag with Carrera’s name on it.
Other items found in the suitcase included a rental vehicle key fob, rosary beads and two men’s wristwatches.
In addition, the body was visually identified as Carrera. The manner of death was ruled as homicide by strangulation.
A description of the body reads as follows:
“(Carrera) was nude, and she had a power cord ligature wrapped around her neck. (Carrera’s) right arm was separated from her torso. It had been severed and placed in a separate heavy-duty plastic garbage bag. (Carrera’s) left arm and left leg appeared as if someone tried to cut them off but quit during the process. (Carrera) had apparent blunt force trauma to the right side of her face.”
Another detective returned to Quintero’s apartment and discovered that a television inside was missing its power cord — a cord identical to the one used to strangle Carrera.
NOVEMBER 5 — INVESTIGATOR REPORT
In an affidavit, detectives said they believe that Quintero strangled Carrera to death using a power cord at Quintero’s apartment on Oct. 28.
According to detectives, they believe Quintero dismembered her right arm after he killed her (and attempted to do the same to her left arm and leg) before stuffing her remains into trash bags, which were then stuffed into Carrera’s suitcase.
Afterward, Quintero is accused of taking the suitcase to the Alabama-Georgia state line and discarding it off Highway 84, where it was later recovered by investigators.
As a result, Quintero now faces charges of fraudulent use of personal identifying information and first-degree murder. He is held without bond.
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