http://www.turnto10.com/news/9894086/detail.html

Police: Woman Dragged To Death In Colorado
Police Announce Suspect's Arrest

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. -- A woman in Colorado was dragged to death earlier this week.

And now, authorities said they have arrested a suspect. Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder and was being held without bail in the Douglas County jail, Sheriff Dave Weaver said.

The victim still has not been identified.

Weaver said Rubi-Nava was the man pictured in a photograph found near the woman's body when she was discovered. Weaver did not say whether a woman who also appeared in the photo had been identified.

An autopsy report released late Tuesday revealed that the victim was alive when the killer or killers placed a rope around her neck and dragged her behind a vehicle. The coroner said she died from blunt force injuries and strangulation.

The woman's mangled, naked body was discovered along Surrey Drive near the Surrey Ridge subdivision, about 20 miles south of Denver, at about 2:39 a.m. Monday, police said.

Police said she was dragged in the normally quiet subdivision for more than a mile. The woman was found dead with an orange tow rope wrapped around her neck.

Police said a winding drag mark, consisting of tire marks and blood, stretched from Interstate 25 exit 191 to the area in the road where the woman's body was found, Denver TV station KMGH reported.

Her face was so disfigured that she could not be identified, police said.

Investigators said Tuesday that an autopsy determined the woman was alive when she was being dragged.

Police said at least one witness reported seeing a vehicle driving with its lights off, dragging something the night the woman was killed.

On Tuesday, a cross adorned with flowers and an angel was erected near the spot where the woman was found.

"It just tugs at your heart that she died such a horrific death. I don't know who put those there, but she certainly deserves that and more," said neighbor Sandi Berg.

Police said they have interviewed three witnesses in connection to a photograph found at the crime scene. The names of the witnesses were not released and their status was not immediately known on Wednesday morning.

Douglas County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kim L. Castellano said that she believes the case is solvable and called the questioning of the witnesses a "significant development."

On Tuesday, Weaver thanked everyone who came forward with information regarding the case but did not specifically say if any of those witnesses identified the woman in the photo or the woman who was killed.

It is not clear if the witnesses came forward voluntarily.

The victim was described as a white, Hispanic or Native American woman with a short stature and stocky build. She was in her 30s and had fair to medium skin. She was 5 feet tall and 130 to 140 pounds. Her auburn hair, which may have been dyed, was shoulder length or slightly longer. She had hazel or green eyes, police said.

Authorities said that local residents should not worry about a possible killer in the neighborhood.

"I don't think there's anything to be concerned about. I think the individual came to this area to dump the body," said Undersheriff Tony Spurloch.

Nevertheless, the crime has offended and disturbed neighbors.

According to the sheriff's office, a man called authorities at 2:39 a.m. to report finding the woman's body on the road near his house. Her body was found in a massive pool of blood in the middle of the street. There was so much blood spilled on the concrete that street sweepers could not remove it all and authorities had to hire a private contractor to take care of it.

Some traces of blood remain, and that's upsetting neighbors, Foley said.

"We don't want to attract any more attention that what we're already getting. This is our little piece of heaven," she said.