Exactly one month after she disappeared, the search continued Wednesday for the body of a missing Moreno Valley teenager after authorities announced the arrest of two brothers suspected of killing her.
Officials have asked for help locating 16-year-old Aranda Briones, who is believed to have been the victim of a homicide, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“During the course of their investigation, [authorities] developed evidence which they believed confirmed that Miss Briones was murdered,” sheriff’s Lt. Chris Durham said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Her body, however, has yet to be found, according to investigators.
Briones was last seen with one of the suspects, 18-year-old Owen Skyler Shover, on the evening of Jan. 13. Shover was a classmate and friend of the victim’s, according to investigators and Briones’ family.
Shover told investigators he dropped the teen off at Moreno Valley Community Park between 6 and 6:30 p.m., then saw her get into a gray, four-door sedan before he left.
But when police reviewed surveillance cameras in the area, they were unable to find any video showing Briones there around that time, according to Durham.
The 18-year-old was taken into custody in Hesperia, along with his older brother — 21-year-old Gary Anthony Shover — after a SWAT team served a search warrant at their home in the 16200 block of Grevillea Street on Monday, sheriff’s officials said.
Both were arrested on suspicion of murder after being interviewed numerous times in the past few weeks, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Inmate records showed the two young men are being held without bail at different county jails ahead of their scheduled court appearances on Friday.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Riverside County Central Homicide Investigator Dickey at 951-955-2777 or Moreno Valley police Investigator Drexler at 951-486-6700.