Sheriff won't say if mom is dead; interview futile

Although blood evidence found on the clothing of the abandoned son of a missing Carson City mother would indicate she was harmed and possibly dead, Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong declined to say as much Tuesday.

"We have no evidence a crime was committed," said Furlong, who admitted investigators are baffled as to where Bertha Anguiano, 33, missing since Nov. 10, could be.

A forensic examination of the blood on the boy's clothing "indicated the profile of a female related to" him.

"(He) has but one female relative in the area, that being his mother, Bertha," Furlong said.

The man police believe knows what happened to Anguiano, Juan Carlos Tellez, 36 - in custody in Salt Lake City after allegedly drawing a weapon on officers there Nov. 21 when they approached him to talk about Anguiano's disappearance - requested an interview with Carson City detectives on Friday.

Sgt. Bob White and Detective Steve Johnson spent hours talking to Tellez, whom Furlong refers to as a "subject of primary interest," on Tuesday at the Salt Lake City Jail and he maintained he knew "nothing," Furlong said.

"He denied having any specific knowledge of her whereabouts and denied having any recent contact with her," Furlong said.

He said it wasn't clear why Tellez asked for the interview, only that is came as a Salt Lake officer was preparing him for a blood draw for forensic analysis.

When asked if he believed Tellez, Furlong said, "Hell no."

Anguiano has been missing since Nov. 10 when her 3-year-old son Andrew was found bloodied and abandoned behind a grocery store some 15 miles from his Carson City home.

The married mother of three was last seen 90 minutes prior to the discovery of Andrew talking with a man in the parking lot of Empire Elementary School where she'd dropped off her 6-year-old son for school.

Investigators believe Tellez and Anguiano may have been engaged in an extramarital affair.

Carson City investigators impounded Tellez's 1992 GMC Jimmy following the altercation in Salt Lake City, and although they admit finding "evidence," in the truck, Furlong refused to say whether that evidence would indicate Anguiano was there.

Today investigators will meet to review the land searches conducted in three counties that line Highway 50 East - Carson City, Lyon and Churchill.

"We'll determine where to focus all of our resources and increase searches in that area," he said. "The Carson City Sheriff's Office will continue its diligence to return Bertha to her children."