nset: Krista Hunt (Skagit County Sheriff”s Office). Background: Juan Delgado appears in Skagit County court (KING/YouTube). I
In Washington, a man faces allegations of murdering his girlfriend and disposing of her body in a river, as investigators discovered blood and hair in his vehicle.
Juan Delgado, 42, is charged with the second-degree murder of 37-year-old Krista Hunt, as revealed by the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office. Delgado was already in custody at the Skagit County Jail on separate charges when the murder accusation was filed.
Authorities reported Hunt missing on February 1, according to an official flyer. The document mentioned that she was last seen in Concrete, a rural town in the northern region of the state.
Krista’s mother, Pamela Hunt, informed Seattle’s NBC affiliate, KING, that her daughter was last seen on January 25 with her boyfriend, reportedly Delgado. Krista had allegedly run out of fuel near a local restaurant and decided to walk. Pamela also claimed that Delgado was abusive toward her daughter.
“She indeed had a broken leg,” Pamela mentioned, recalling an instance when she took her daughter to the hospital. “She told me he had stomped on her leg and chest with his boot … and once set a timer, threatening to strike her every 15 minutes.”
An affidavit shared by the TV station shows that when a deputy contacted Delgado by phone on Feb. 1, the defendant said he had not heard from her in five days yet wanted to return her two dogs. Delgado also “explained there had been issues in his and Krista’s relationship in the past but believed they were currently on good terms.”
Two days after Krista Hunt was reported missing, Delgado reportedly shot himself at a bar in the small Washington town. He survived and later told authorities that he “missed Krista.”
Weeks after she went missing, a body was found in the Skagit River, which runs right beneath Concrete. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office announced on March 18, the county coroner had confirmed the remains as belonging to Krista Hunt.
The coroner could not determine an exact cause of death but detailed injuries such as a broken neck, a broken jaw, and broken ribs, according to KING. Delgado had reportedly told friends his girlfriend had been hit by a car.
Delgado is being detained on $1 million bail.
The victim’s family has been left distraught by her death.
“I can’t imagine the pain my mom is going through right now,” Hunt’s brother told KING. “I know the pain I’m going through. And it’s hard … He stole 60 years of my relationship with Krista.”