Child’s Remains Found Encased in Concrete, Prompting Search for 2 Missing Children

The remains of a child were found encased in concrete in a storage unit in Pueblo, Colo., last month, and the police said Thursday that they were searching for two other children last seen in 2018 as part of the homicide investigation.

The grisly discovery was made on the morning of Jan. 10 at a storage facility downtown, the Pueblo Police Department said in a statement.

The police said they were called to the facility, about 45 miles south of Colorado Springs, after a person found a metal container “filled with hardened concrete.” A search of the container revealed the remains of a child.

The authorities said they were now searching for two children, Jesus and Yesenia Dominguez, who were last seen more than five years ago. Jesus would now be about 10 years old, and Yesenia would be 9, the police said. They would not provide information about how the two children might be connected to the child whose remains were found or to the homicide investigation.

The Pueblo County Coroner will identify the remains, the police said. The coroner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

Sgt. Franklyn Ortega of the Pueblo Police Department said by phone that while no report had been filed regarding the two missing children, the police had been called on to make welfare checks for the children but could never locate them.

When asked why the police had not then inquired further about the children’s whereabouts, Sergeant Ortega said that there were “custody issues” regarding the children, and that he could not provide further details. He said that the police had questioned two people of interest regarding the homicide, but that they did not have anyone in custody.