Photo: Broward Sheriff's Office, Miami-Dade Corrections
A Black Florida woman has gone missing while trying to divorce her estranged husband, who's now facing charges in her disappearance and possible murder, according to WPLG.
Mimose "Mimi" Dulcio, 39, disappeared last week and authorities now believe she was killed by her spouse, 36-year-old Jose Luis Pacheco. The Broward Sheriff's Office and Miami-Dade Police Department arrested Pacheco Monday night (November 14) in Hialeah in connection to the case.
Dulcio was last seen on November 10 at her home in unincorporated Central Broward County, reporters said. A missing person alert was issued a couple days later. When family members visited the home, they reportedly found the smashed surveillance cameras, a crackled, blood-speckled TV, and Dulcio's damaged cell phone stashed between couch cushions.
Detectives obtained a search warrant to search the home and the vehicle the couple shared, finding evidence that she may have been murdered. They also believe her body was transported by Pacheco's 2018 Dodge Charger before being dumped at an unknown location.
According to her sister, Seminta Dulcio, the couple was sharing the home until the divorce is finalized. Part of the agreement would include an emergency restraining order.
“We need her very much,” Nevile Dulcio, her brother, told reporters. Seminta, on the other hand, called Pacheco "a monster."
“She is going through something with an individual, and I don’t take these words lightly, I am going to call him a monster,” she said, per WPLG.
According to BSO spokeswoman Gerdy St. Louis, detectives spoke with Pacheco, who claims "he had not seen or heard from Dulcio in a couple of days and that they were in the process of getting a divorce.”
On Wednesday (November 16), cops found a body in a wooded area near the 5500 block of Northwest 204th Street in Miami-Dade County, according to NBC 6. Officials haven't confirmed if the body is Dulcio as of Thursday afternoon (November 17).
“Unfortunately, this case took a turn for the worst,” St. Louis said in a statement. “What we would have wanted was to find Mimose alive and well, however that was not the case, we hope the fact that we have made an arrest in this case that it brings some sort of justice to the family.”
Pacheco was booked into jail for second-degree murder. A judge ordered him to be held without bond on Wednesday, per NBC 6.
Dulcio worked as an administrative assistant for the City of Fort Lauderdale's Development Services Department.
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