Man charged with burning girlfriend may be in Mexico
By PEGGY O’HARE
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 18, 2009, 5:38PM

A man charged with setting his girlfriend on fire because he was angry she would not answer her phone has probably fled to Mexico, Houston police said on Thursday.

Investigators were told by several witnesses late Wednesday that Uriel Vargas Alvarado, 25, who is charged with aggravated assault for the attack, is no longer in the country, said Houston Police Department homicide investigator Roger Chappell.

Doctors treating Alvarado’s girlfriend, Juana Patricia DeLeon Hernandez, 33, have estimated she has less than a 20 percent chance of survival, court records show. She suffered fourth-degree burns to 70 percent of her body, including severe deep burns to her upper abdomen, after she was doused with gasoline and set ablaze.

She remains in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital’s Burn Center, where she is fully bandaged and sedated. Her parents and sister have been at her side, Chappell said.

“I went to see her yesterday, and when I walked in there, to be honest with you, my heart broke,â€