Man charged with putting dead Athens woman's body in trash can
A man sought by Athens-Clarke police since warrants were obtained in April 2023 is in jail on charges that he placed a dead woman’s body in a trash can and pulled it into the woods adjacent to the home where he was living in Athens.
Javier Carbajal-Soto, 51, faces charges of concealing a body and tampering with evidence.
Carbajal-Soto, was placed in the Clarke County Jail on Jan. 13, where he remained Thursday without bond.
The charges stem from the mysterious disappearance of Adriana Castaneda, 38, who was reported missing by her roommate on March 7, 2023.
The 41-year-old roommate told police he had not seen her in the past three days. She had left the home on Kathwood Drive to attend a party at a bar located on U.S. Highway 441 in Athens and never returned, according to the man.
Castaneda’s body was found days later on March 21 by a police officer in the wood line at the corner of Lavender Road and Maple Forge Drive. At the time the officer was working on another case and was not looking for a body, according to reports previously released by police.
The suspect resided at 100 Maple Forge Drive and Castaneda’s decomposed body was found inside a trash can linked to that location, according to documents. The body had been wrapped in plastic and police charged that Carbajal-Soto did this to obstruct their investigation into the woman's disappearance.
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Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said Wednesday that the woman's cause of death has not been determined and that he is still awaiting medical evidence from the State Crime Lab's autopsy.
Although police detectives have not released details, detective David Harrison signed an arrest warrant against Carbajal-Soto on April 11, 2023, but the suspect had apparently left Athens by that time. The nature of the relationship between the suspect and victim was unclear.
Police would not comment on Wednesday on how or where the suspect was apprehended, but a Clarke County Sheriff's deputy picked him up at the airport in Atlanta where he was detained and transferred him to the jail Athens.
Castaneda was employed at a battery factory in Commerce at the time of her death, according to her roommate.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Suspect arrested in Athens case of woman's body found in trash can
