UPDATE (2/16/2022):
On Tuesday, the murder charge against Jose Guadalupe De Luna, II was dismissed. A second count for abuse of corpse without legal authority was also dismissed.
A plea agreement was made in court on Feb. 10, with De Luna pleading guilty to a third charge of tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, to include time served, according to court records.
ORIGINAL:
Corpus Christi police have arrested 46-year-old Jose Guadalupe De Luna, II in connection with the murder of 36-year-old Vanessa Pecina.
Police say de Luna was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon. He was booked into the Nueces County Jail around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. He was charged with murder.
Pecina's body was found by deputies last week in the Petronila area. The discovery comes days after the Corpus Christi Police Department featured her on its blotter page as a missing person. Nueces County Sheriff's Department Asst. Chief Deputy Daniel Perez estimates Pecina's body was found more than a week ago.
Pecina was found in a ditch by a passerby driving near County Roads 20 and 63.
She was last seen alive around Aug. 27, getting into a red vehicle in a neighborhood off Kostoryz and McArdle Roads.
Pecina made several social media posts indicating she and de Luna were in a relationship, and a subsequent post made by Pecina shortly before her disappearance suggests that they had just broken up.
Meanwhile, De Luna's bond was set at $400,000.
If you have any information relating to Pecina's death, contact the Nueces County Sheriff's Department Criminal Investigations Division at 361-887-2222.
