The body of a woman who had been missing for three years was recently discovered wrapped in plastic in the basement of a home, Oklahoma police say.
Police in Norman say Margarita Sandoval was 19 years old when she went missing in 2018. Officers were recently called to the home when someone living there overheard two people mention “a dead body in the basement,” according to KFOR.
When officers followed up on the tip, they found her decomposed body in a container under the stairs, according to The Oklahoman.
The body was “wrapped in numerous layers of thick plastic, possibly 20-30 layers,” but officers saw liquid leaking from the box and insects escaping when they opened it, KOTV reported.
A cause of death has not been determined and police have not named any suspects in Sandoval’s death, according to KOKH.
The home is a few blocks away from the University of Oklahoma campus.
“It’s weird, especially for a place like Norman,” said Jackson McCormick, an Oklahoma student who passes by the home daily, KOKH reported. “You don’t expect to find something like that out especially right across the street from your house.”
The man who currently lives in the home moved into the residence in 2019, a year after Sandoval went missing, according to KFOR. He said he had allowed a friend, Octavio Sanchez, to store items in the basement. Sanchez, last seen by the home’s resident in May 2020, has been described as Sandoval’s brother, The Oklahoman reported.
Sandoval, who The Oklahoman reported had special needs, was last known to be living with Sanchez and his wife. She filed a report in February 2018 that the couple was abusing her, according to the newspaper. Sandoval did not press charges, KFOR reported.
“We knew something was wrong when she stopped calling my mom,” Sandoval’s sister, Taylor Hearon, told KOTV.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Norman police at 405-321-1600.
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