Lyon County Sheriff's officials continue to search for missing Carson City woman Bertha Anguiano on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003. Anguiano has not been seen since Monday and her 3-year-old son was found injured at an area grocery store. He told authoritites his mother was dead. (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Cathleen Allison)
Police said they have identified the man they believe was in the company of a Carson City woman on Monday shortly before her bloody 3-year-old son was found 15 miles from home in the parking lot of a Dayton grocery store.
Carson City mother Bertha Anguiano has been missing since Monday when her son was found at the Dayton Smith's.
Carson City Sheriff Kennny Furlong said late Thursday night Juan Carlos Tellez, also known as Oscar Pablo Melendez, 36, is sought for questioning in the disappearence of Anguiano.
Detectives learned Tellez's name through several witnesses who said he and Anguiano were involved in a sexual relationship. Authorities believe they may be headed for Salt Lake City.
"They were having an affair," Furlong said. "Although Anguiano may be a willing passenger, her welfare has not yet been determined,"
Police have been searching for four days for Anguiano after her 3-year-old son, Andrew, was found Monday morning wandering in the Dayton Smith's parking lot with blood on his clothing and an injury to the top of his head.
When he spoke to police through a Spanish-speaking translator, Andrew said his mother was dead, Furlong said. He said "Juan" had allegedly given him a dollar and pushed him from a blue truck at the Smith's grocery store.
Anguiano's Ford Tempo was found in the parking lot of the elementary school where she'd dropped off her 6-year-old son earlier.
A witness, who said she'd recently ended a relationship with Tellez, came forward Thursday evening and said she and her infant child drove to Salt Lake City with him about three weeks ago. They stayed there with his family for a short time, she said.
On the return trip, Tellez allegedly battered the woman in Wendover, then drove her back into Utah where he kept her for a few days. Furlong said the woman sustained injuries and needed medical attention following the assault.
The address where they stayed in Salt Lake City has been given to the authorities, Furlong said.
"We believe he has a propensity for violence," he said.
Also Thursday night, police said they found an address on Saliman Road where Tellez likely stayed with friends. One of those friends, Latisha Lopez, admitted Tellez had been using her blue GMC Jimmy pick-up truck, Furlong said. He said she told detectives she hadn't seen Tellez in "quite some time."
Tellez is also wanted by the Nevada Highway Patrol on unrelated traffic warrants out of Carson City.
Furlong said the suspected relationship between Anguiano and Tellez was a point of contention for she and her husband Filiberto.
"They had explosive exchanges verbally over Filiberto's desire to keep Juan away from her," Furlong said. "(Bertha) was very upset at that accusation."
Witnesses told police Tellez frequented Angiuano's video store, La Casita Video on Woodside Drive, but despite a suspected affair Furlong still believes Anguiano is in danger.
"We still have the condition of the child," he said. "Because of that we're left with one devil of a mystery to contend with."
"Until we locate her and talk to her, we don't know if she's really OK," Furlong said. "We're not ruling out that she could possibly be in danger. But it's possible she's a willing participant."
Authorities had focused their search Thursday for the missing woman in the Dayton area, a small town on U.S. 50 in the desert east of Carson City. They searched rural roads, canyons and the Carson River but came up empty-handed, Furlong said.
Lab tests were being conducted on the blood found on the boy's clothing to determine if it belongs to him. He was scratched and bruised when found in the parking lot of a Dayton grocery store.
About 90 minutes earlier, the boy had left his Carson City home with his mother to drop off another brother at school. The mother's car was found at the school, but her keys, purse and about $3,700 in weekend receipts from the family's video rental store were missing.
The Anguianos' children, Andrew and his brothers, Christian, 6, and Eduardo, 9, have been taken to their grandparents' home in California.
Tellez is described as 5-feet 9-inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He may be sporting a mustache and goatee. He has a tattoo which reads, "Cry now smile later," on his left back shoulder and a peacock on his right shoulder.
Angiuano is described as 5-feet tall, 110 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Carson City Sheriff's Department emergency dispatch center at 887-2008.