Authorities in Utah discovered the body of 43-year-old Jeusselem Elieth Genes in a storage facility in Draper, days after she and her husband vanished from their home in Saratoga Springs. The husband, Alvaro Jose Urbina Rojas, has been named a person of interest in her death, which has been ruled a homicide. The couple left home on February 26, with Rojas telling family he was taking Genes to work.
On February 26, Alvaro Jose Urbina Rojas, 57, and Jeusselem Elieth Genes, 43, left their home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, around 10 a.m. Family members expected Rojas to drive Genes to her workplace, but she did not arrive, and the couple failed to return that evening. Concerned relatives contacted police, who initiated a missing persons investigation the following day.
The couple, married for about 19 years, had immigrated from Venezuela roughly 10 years earlier. They had an adult daughter and a juvenile-aged son, with no reported serious medical issues or prior interactions with law enforcement. While family noted occasional arguments over the years without physical violence, there had been recent discussions of divorce. Initially, relatives did not suspect danger and wondered if Immigration and Customs Enforcement might have detained them, though investigators ruled this out.
Cellphone data showed Genes' phone turned off, while Rojas' last pinged near Draper, about 18 miles north of Saratoga Springs. Their 2005 gray Toyota Sequoia with Utah plates was spotted in Las Vegas, Nevada, midday on February 26—roughly 400 miles southwest—followed by credit card activity in California that night. Family mentioned Rojas owned a camp trailer in a Draper storage facility; they checked it on Saturday but found it locked.
On Monday, Saratoga Springs police obtained a search warrant and discovered Genes' body inside the trailer. The site was processed as a crime scene, and an autopsy confirmed homicide, though results remain undisclosed. Rojas is now a person of interest, potentially a suspect pending further evidence.
Saratoga Springs Police Chief Andrew Burton described the family's shock during a Tuesday press conference: "They said, 'We don't understand why this is happening.' They're not suicidal, they don't have medical issues, they haven't had an argument or big fight." As of Tuesday, the vehicle had not crossed into Mexico and was believed to remain in California.
