Photo leads to suspect in dragging
Colorado victim still not identified.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) - Sandi Berg placed white flowers at a makeshift memorial where the victim of a gruesome dragging death had been found, grateful that a suspect was arrested after his photo was found at the crime scene but wondering who the victim was.

"Hopefully he will give the name of the girl so that her family can be contacted and this can be put to rest," Berg said yesterday, hours after police announced the arrest. "She deserves peace."

Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was being held without bail on a first-degree murder charge at the Douglas County jail.

The woman, whose strangled and battered body was found Monday in a subdivision about 20 miles south of Denver, had still not been identified. Preliminary autopsy results indicated she died of asphyxiation and head injuries from the dragging, the coroner’s office said.

Nancy Foley, who lives near the house where the body was found, said the woman was found with an orange tow rope around her neck and that her face was unrecognizable. Investigators said she had been dragged for at least a mile.

Investigators did not say how or why the photo had been left near the body. The photo shows Rubi-Nava with his right arm casually draped on a woman’s shoulder. Sheriff Dave Weaver said investigators had not determined whether the woman in the photo was the victim.

The photo had been made public after the body was found, and investigators said it prompted a flood of calls. Weaver said tips from the public had led to the arrest, but he did not elaborate.

He refused to take questions after reading a statement at a news conference. The sheriff’s department did not respond to requests by phone and in writing for more information.

At a court appearance yesterday afternoon, Rubi-Nava listened impassively through a translator as District Judge Paul King formally told him the charge he faces.

King sealed the arrest warrant affidavit, which outlines the preliminary allegations against Rubi-Nava, at the request of public defender Kathleen McGuire. King said he would consider McGuire’s request for a gag order.

Rubi-Nava said nothing during the 30-minute hearing. He looked around the courtroom but made no sign that he recognized anyone.

Another court hearing was scheduled for Monday.

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