A murder suspect, who was wanted by two police departments, was shot dead by CHP officers after a car chase that lead to a Ranch 99 Market in Richmond. That is where officers also made a gruesome discovery in the vehicle the suspect was driving.
CHP officials confirm their officers shot and killed murder suspect Efren Valdemoro. Valdemoro's girlfriend, who police say was kidnapped earlier on Tuesday morning from Vallejo, was found dead inside the car at the scene. Police investigators believe she died before Valdemoro got to Richmond and will not yet release her name.
CHP officers started chasing the suspect after spotting him in Pleasant Hill. They followed him as he exited Highway 80 at Central Avenue and ended up in the shopping center parking lot.
"At the termination point of the pursuit, the suspect fled the vehicle and went into the Ranch 99 shopping center. Two CHP officers confronted the suspect. The suspect failed to obey commands to drop a weapon, in which the CHP officers discharged their firearms and the suspect suffered fatal injures inside the shopping center," said Sgt. Trent Cross.
"This is very complicated connection and [we have] pieces here that we're all trying to piece together at this point. We do have multiple missing people that are still in the case that are still outstanding and that we are still searching for," said Michelle Harrington from the Hercules Police Department.
Valdemoro appears to be connected to several people who are missing, including two women who were last seen in Vallejo on Wednesday. The missing women are Marcaria "Carol" Smart and Segundina "Rita" Allen -- both are in their 60s.
Also 35-year-old Frederick Sales is missing as well. He disappeared, after his father, Ricardo Sales, was murdered inside their Hercules home Friday night.
The reason police are saying Valdemoro is tied to the missing Vallejo women and the Hercules murder is because of a Cadillac Escalade. The Escalade was seen leaving the scene of the murder in Hercules and it belongs to one of the missing Vallejo women.
Police will not say what type of weapon Valdemoro had inside the Ranch 99 market.
