Phoenix police seek 7th victim in string of Valley kidnappings, sexual assaults
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell gathered with Phoenix police leadership at the Phoenix Police Department on Thursday afternoon to request the public’s help in identifying an additional victim in a string of kidnappings and violent sexual assaults involving six other women.
Mitchell said investigators were searching for the woman after 25-year-old Tyler Munguia allegedly raped and tortured women across the Phoenix area between October 2021 and June 2022.
Munguia was arrested in June.
Police describe the unidentified woman as being 18 to 22 years old and either Caucasian or Hispanic. The woman was captured on video as she was being sexually assaulted and could be seen wearing a necklace that said “Angel” and another with a ring-shaped pendant around her neck.
“If anybody has any information on who she is, we really want to make sure that she’s OK,” Phoenix Police Commander Edward DeCastro said during the press conference, adding that the department seeks to “get her resources and find out what her story is.”
Mitchell said Munguia has been indicted on 59 felony counts, including 38 counts of sexual assault, six counts of kidnapping, six counts of aggravated assault and nine counts of sexual abuse.
In one of the cases, court documents say Munguia approached a woman who was working as a sex worker in the area of 27th Avenue and Mariposa Street on May 25, 2022, where he paid her to perform oral sex.
But rather than allowing the woman to leave the car, documents state Munguia held her at knifepoint before binding her wrists and legs with duct tape, gagged her and put a bag over her head. The woman recalled Munguia driving her to a residence possibly in Tempe where he raped her multiple times, court documents state.
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She said Munguia scrubbed her down in the shower and kept her clothing and cell phone. The woman said Munguia drove her back to the area he had abducted her after roughly seven to ten hours, documents state. The woman took an Uber ride home and eventually went to the hospital to be tested for STDs.
Court documents state Munguia followed another woman in his car on June 28, 2022, on Mariposa Street and tried to talk to her. Documents say the woman tried ignoring him when Munguia exited his car and approached her while brandishing a knife. Munguia then forced the woman into the front seat of his car, bound her legs and wrists with duct tape and raped her in a nearby alley, documents say.
He then forced her into the back seat, documents say, and drove her to Tempe where he parked along a canal where he raped her again. He then drove her to a single-family home and raped her repeatedly. Documents say the attack lasted approximately four to five hours before he cut the duct tape and let the woman wear a dress she had in her bag. Documents say he drove her to the area of 27th Avenue and Camelback Road.
The woman later told officers that Munguia regularly recorded himself sexually assaulting her and had done so with other women before posting the videos on the dark web, documents state.
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A police analyst used a partial plate search based on information the woman gave and identified a 2015 Dodge Charger owned by Munguia’s mother who lived in Chandler.
Police arrested Munguia on June 30, 2022, while he was in the car in Gilbert where they found a used condom, a large kitchen knife and a roll of duct tape. Court documents state Munguia told officers he had sex with the two women but said the sex was consensual.
Documents say police obtained a search warrant to search Munguia’s phone where they found several videos of Munguia raping and torturing different women.
Munguia has been held in a Maricopa County Jail since his arrest on a $750,000 cash-only bond. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 24.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police seek 7th victim of man accused of raping 6 other women
