MIAMI COUNTY, Kan. (TCN) — Officials recently arrested a Missouri man on suspicion of killing his wife in rural Kansas and then driving her body across state lines in a camper trailer before reporting her death.
On June 13 at approximately 11:35 a.m., officers with the Carthage Police Department responded to a report of a deceased individual inside a camper trailer on North Main Street. Authorities identified the victim as 24-year-old Kenia Lopez and ruled her death a homicide.
The Miami County Sheriff’s Office alleges 23-year-old Gavino McJunkins-Macias killed Lopez in rural Louisburg, Kansas, and then drove her body in a camper to Carthage, Missouri. KAKE-TV identified McJunkins-Macias as the victim’s husband and reports the slaying occurred during a camping trip.
In a report obtained by the Kansas City Star, a Carthage Police detective wrote that McJunkins-Macias allegedly “committed a violent murder” and “left the decedent unattended while he spoke with family and an attorney.”
Police found McJunkins-Macias at the scene and took him in for questioning. The suspect reportedly told authorities he drove his wife’s body and left her remains in the camper to meet with family and conduct business.
According to the Kansas City Star, surveillance footage revealed a truck carrying the camper on June 13 at around 8 a.m., and then leaving without it approximately 25 minutes later.
Officials initially charged McJunkins-Macias with abandonment of a corpse and later added a count of second-degree murder. He remains held in the Jasper County Jail in Missouri on $1 million bond.
Lopez reportedly leaves behind two children.
