VISTA (CNS) - A 19-year-old Escondido man, who's accused of killing an acquaintance during a alcohol-fueled fight, dumping the body in Valley Center and then referencing the crime on the social media app Snapchat, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Vista.
Salvador Alejandro Sanchez was arrested Sunday and booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to police and jail records.
An autopsy to determine the victim's cause of death was pending, but authorities said he was killed in a fight Thursday night. Sanchez "dumped the victim's body and buried it in tall grass" in an area off East Paradise Creek Lane in Valley Center, Escondido police Lt. Justin Murphy alleged.
On Saturday, friends of the victim saw Snapchat posts from the suspect alluding to a possible homicide and alerted the sheriff's department, which in turn notified the Escondido Police Department, according to the lieutenant.
Escondido police told said Sanchez posted text statements, but not incriminating photos or video. Authorities have declined to release any specific Snapchat evidence and are withholding the victim's name.
The body was discovered Sunday and Sanchez was taken into custody in the vicinity of Ash Street and Grand Avenue that afternoon, Murphy said.
Anyone with additional information on the case was asked to call Escondido police Detective John O'Donnell at (760) 839-4756, or the department's anonymous tip line at (760) 743-8477.
