WICHITA — The pregnant girlfriend of a man suspected of killing a Kansas college student has returned to the United States, her mother said.
Sandy Martens said she is convinced that her daughter, Victoria, knew nothing about 18-year-old Emily Sander’s death and thought she was on a vacation with Israel Mireles when they went to Mexico.
“I just want her to have the baby and have as good a life as possible,” she told reporters.
Mireles, 24, is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of Emily Sander. The disappearance of the 18-year-old Butler Community College student drew nationwide attention after it was discovered that she also led a secret life as an Internet porn model named Zoey Zane.
Mireles was arrested last week in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico. U.S. authorities were seeking his extradition to Kansas.
In the fall, Victoria Martens and Mireles had moved into the same motel room where authorities say they found a lot of blood after Sander’s disappearance Nov. 23.
Sander’s body was found six days later, about 50 miles east of El Dorado, site of the college, as police traced the route they believed Mireles took to pick up Victoria Martens in Baxter Springs, where she had been spending the Thanksgiving holiday with her family.
Victoria Martens initially had refused to return to the U.S. but eventually called her father to pick her up at the border and bring her home, Sandy Martens told the Hays Daily News, her employer. The girl was caught at the border, and her father did not get to see her or talk to her, she said.
Martens now is in temporary juvenile custody in Texas. Her mother said she will likely be brought back to Hays and be questioned by El Dorado authorities.
