Silver Spring Woman's Body Found; Daughter's Ex-Boyfriend Charged

The body of a missing Silver Spring woman was found stuffed into a blue plastic storage bin in a corner of her back yard, and police on Friday charged the 17-year-old former boyfriend of the victim's daughter with the killing, authorities said.

On Aug. 30, the night before the victim went missing, her 13-year-old daughter sneaked the 17-year-old into the family's house in the Briggs Chaney area, according to a statement of charges. The daughter concealed his presence because her mother didn't approve of the relationship, police said.

When the daughter left for school on Aug. 31, the 17-year-old hid in the home's basement, waiting for the mother to leave, said Lt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery police spokesman.

The suspect, Ivo P. Portillo-Guevara, and the mother, Rosa L. Vasquez, 35, who was 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 115 pounds, squared off in an argument, and he killed her, police said. Portillo-Guevara will be charged as an adult with first-degree murder, Starks said.

During the investigation into Vasquez's disappearance, detectives learned of text messages sent from her cellphone, a law enforcement official said. The messages purported to show that she was all right and that she hoped someone was looking out for her kids.

Detectives now think that the text messages were not written by Vasquez, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death.

Vasquez, a longtime employee in the bakery department at a Costco store in Beltsville, was so punctual that when she did not show up for her Aug. 31 shift and didn't call her best friend, who works in the deli department, employees panicked, said Sedia Lynch, an assistant manager at the store.

"She was our alarm clock, always coming in at 7 o'clock and saying 'hi' to everyone," Lynch said.

Vasquez's former husband, William Vasquez, reported her missing. Rosa Vasquez had residential custody of their children.

"She was always talking about her kids," said Yvonne Millwood, a colleague at the store.

As Montgomery detectives searched for Vasquez, they came to consider Portillo-Guevara a suspect.

While searching Vasquez's back yard in the 3600 block of Castle Terrace on Thursday night, they found the storage container, described as a rectangular bin that was partially covered.

Detectives arrested Portillo-Guevara without incident in the 200 block of West Deer Park Road in Gaithersburg at 10 a.m. Friday. He has no fixed address, police said.

Millwood said when she entered the Costco at 9:15 Friday morning, she saw the looks of gloom. A coworker stared blankly at her, saying, " 'They found Rosa,' " and Millwood burst into tears.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.